Alberta Law Society Faces Changes to Indigenous Training Mandate

The Alberta government has introduced new legislation that may significantly alter the mandatory Indigenous cultural competency training required for lawyers in the province. On October 5, 2023, Justice Minister Mickey Amery presented Bill 14, a move that seeks to restrict the kind of educational requirements that regulatory bodies, including the Law Society of Alberta, can impose.

In a landmark decision five years ago, the Law Society mandated that all practicing lawyers complete a training course known as “The Path.” This initiative, which began in 2021, aimed to equip lawyers with essential knowledge about Indigenous history and issues, in line with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action. These 94 action items were designed to address the injustices faced by Indigenous communities, particularly those stemming from the legacy of residential schools.

The Law Society, governed by a group of 24 benchers, emphasized that all lawyers, irrespective of whether they worked with Indigenous clients, had a responsibility to understand these issues. As former Law Society President Kent Teskey stated, “The justice system [has] an obligation to share a baseline understanding of how Indigenous clients experience the law in our province and across Canada.”

The Path training lasts approximately five to six hours and has seen a high completion rate among Alberta’s lawyers. However, the introduction of Bill 14 could significantly impact this educational requirement. If passed, the legislation would limit the education that the Law Society can mandate to essential qualifications such as a law degree, bar admission course, and training for specialized roles.

Under the provisions of Bill 13, the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, regulators would be prohibited from requiring “cultural competency, unconscious bias, or diversity, equity and inclusion training.” This has raised concerns within the legal community about the potential implications for Indigenous training initiatives.

The Law Society declined to comment on the new legislation, citing the need for further review. Meanwhile, Neil Singh, press secretary for the Advanced Education Ministry, indicated that compliance with the new Act would be expected from all professional regulatory bodies.

The introduction of Bill 14 is not the first challenge to The Path. Earlier this year, a group of 50 lawyers petitioned the Law Society to remove the mandate requiring legal education on Indigenous issues. Calgary lawyer Glenn Blackett criticized the course, labeling it as “re-education, or indoctrination, into a particular brand of wokeness.”

A special meeting held by the Law Society attracted over 3,400 lawyers, resulting in a vote of 864 in favor of maintaining the power to mandate continuing education, while 2,609 voted against. Following this, lawyer Roger Song sought a judicial review regarding the Law Society’s authority, but it was dismissed by a judge in September.

Concerns about the implications of Bill 14 have been voiced by members of the legal community. Jessica Buffalo, the first Indigenous initiatives counsel at the Law Society, expressed worry that the changes could imply that mandatory Indigenous training is relevant only to specific areas of law, undermining the broader significance of Indigenous issues across all legal disciplines.

Buffalo remarked, “Alberta’s going to fall behind in having those cultural competency requirements for lawyers if they do this.” She also noted that the timing of this legislative push is puzzling, given the previous vote supporting Indigenous education within the Law Society.

Defence lawyer Paul Moreau argued that it should be left to professional regulators to determine the necessary training requirements for their members. “The government has a lot to do. They can’t be everything to everybody and they shouldn’t try,” he asserted.

As the Alberta government moves forward with this legislation, the legal community remains on alert, anticipating the potential repercussions for Indigenous cultural training and the broader implications for reconciliation efforts in Canada.