Motion to scrap mandatory 'cultural competency' training for Alberta lawyers fails
On Monday, with some 4,600 lawyers registered at a special Law Society of Alberta meeting, solicitors debated a program called The Path, which lawyers were required to complete in order to continue practising law in the province.Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
“Nobody can claim that they, with a five-hour video and reading some stuff, then suddenly you’re culturally competent,” Song said in an interview with the National Post last week. “So we believe that this type of approach of mandatory program or mandatory education imposed by the law society is not in the public interest.”
In her view, the training was important because many people currently practising wouldn’t have learned about residential schools. The vast majority of lawyers have already completed the training. As of the October 2022 deadline, all but 26 of the 9,769 lawyers who had to complete it had missed the deadline, and since then, all but eight have completed it.Article contentAn open letter countering the petition received some 400 signatories.
Song argued that he’s not opposed to lawyers learning Indigenous history. Rather, his belief is that lawyers should be able to seek out their own education, such as attending seminars, or for the law society to establish a forum for lawyers to meet with Indigenous people, instead of following a mandatory course.Article content
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