Mir Centre for Peace Lecture Series presents: Sharon McIvor
By Contributor
Selkirk College’s Mir Centre for Peace Lecture Series invites you to come down “The Long Hard Road” with guest speaker, indigenous activist and academic, Sharon McIvor.
A member of the Lower Niclola Indian Band located outside of Merritt, B.C., Sharon McIvor will talk about her decades-long struggle to correct a century of discrimination against aboriginal women; her recent Supreme Court victory; and her continued battle to reconcile remaining issues to bring full equal rights to Canadian aboriginal women.
“We are honoured to host this well-known aboriginal leader,” explains Mir Centre for Peace Chair Randy Janzen. “Although her focus will be on women’s rights in the context of aboriginal self-government, Sharon has also worked in the areas of prison reform, violence against women, and disability, aboriginal and equality rights. Her background is varied and is sure to widen perspectives of those present.”
Sharon McIvor holds a law degree from the University of Victoria and a Masters of Laws degree from Queens University. She is an instructor of Indigenous Studies at Nicola Valley Institute of Technology in Merritt, B.C.
She was a member of the Wilson Task Force on the Status of Women in the Legal Profession and the Task Force on federally Sentenced Women and has played a key leadership role in the Native Women’s Association of Canada for many years.
McIvor, as plaintiff in the McIvor v. Canada case, has successfully challenged the ongoing discrimination in the Indian Act which has forced the federal government to amend the Indian Act (the “McIvor” amendments). McIvor has, as counsel, appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada on numerous occasions and has also taken her advocacy to the United Nations at an international level.
This Mir Centre for Peace Lecture takes place at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19, 2011, in room S113 at Selkirk College’s Castlegar campus. Tickets will be available at the door and are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors.
Visit www.selkirk.ca/mir for more information or call 250.365.1234.
This article is a press release from Selkirk College.
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