Course Chairs
Katrina Harry — Manager, Parents Legal Centre, Legal Aid BC, Vancouver
Parveen K. Nijjar — Director's Counsel, Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
About the Course Chairs
Katrina Harry is a lawyer and Manager of the Parents Legal Centre, a program for child protection matters operated by Legal Aid BC. Called to the bar in 2006, she has practiced mainly in child protection. She has represented parents and extended family members at every child protection stage. Katrina authors and reviews numerous publications for Legal Aid in the area of children and families, and speaks frequently at the bar exam course, presents at conferences and at various speaking engagements. She is from Esketemc First Nation, of the Shuswap nation.
Parveen Nijjar is currently the Deputy Supervisor of the Director's Counsel Group, with the Legal Services Branch at the Ministry of Attorney General in Victoria, BC. Parveen is part of a team that provides direct legal services and support to the Ministry of Children and Family Development and Delegated Aboriginal Agencies in the Southern Vancouver Island region. She also assists with complex files in other areas of the Province.
Prior to joining the Ministry of Attorney General, Parveen practiced as contracted Director's Counsel at the law firm, Pearlman Lindholm in Victoria. She also maintained family law and family law mediation practices. Prior to moving into a Director's Counsel role, Parveen was also parents counsel for some years as well as a criminal defence lawyer.
Parveen was born and raised in Victoria. Before attending law school, she completed a degree in Social Work. Outside of work, Parveen travels as often as she can, volunteers with community organizations and is an avid soccer fan.
Elder Maria Reed, Waabigekek Ikwe
When Maria was a child she had a recurring dream that she was being chased on horseback by "wild Indians." Back then, she didn't know she was Indigenous, but now that she knows, the dream makes sense symbolically.
Like so many Indigenous people, her parents and grandparents were robbed of their heritage in residential schools and were fearful of discrimination, so they didn't practice their culture.
Like the dream she had as a child, however, Maria's Indigenous background would eventually catch up to her in her teens when one of her aunts discovered the family's Indigenous roots.
Maria hasn't looked back since, immersing herself in the culture. Her great-grandmother was from the Batchewana First Nation in Ontario, and her great grandfather was French and Métis.
Maria is French, Cree and Ojibway on her father's side and Swedish Sami on her mother's side. The Sami are Sweden's Indigenous people and known as Reindeer Herders.
Since finding out about her Indigenous roots in her teens, Maria has immersed herself in learning about her culture. "When I found out it was one of those aha moments," says Maria. Her Indigenous name, Waabigekek Ikwe, means White Hawk Woman.
Maria loves being an Elder and feels that everything she has done in the fields of wellness—body, mind and spirit—has come together to prepare her to be an Elder.
Early on Maria took a course on Indigenous culture that exposed her to sweats, smudging, circles, and healing practices. Maria has worked as a Life Skills Coach and a Human Relations Counsellor and spent years working with Fraser Valley Aboriginal Health Council on health and wellness initiatives and as an Elder with Circle 5. "I learned a lot about human nature and a lot about myself," says Maria.
She credits her greatest learnings to fellow Elders. "You learn about all the different cultural practices. The more teachings you learn, the more you find out about human nature," says Maria. "In our business we work with people and the more you can understand where they come from, the better you can work with them."
Maria says she is not much of a person for hobbies. "I love what I do," says Maria, who prefers to be working or spending time with her two daughters and grandchildren. She says she loves challenges, creating well working systems and helping people. She is a problem-solver by nature. She is also a life-long learner and is currently taking a course on death and grieving.
Maria believes Elders set the tone and bring culture and wisdom. She says it took time at Circle 5 to build that culture so that it became a natural way to do things. She urges staff to reach out to the Elders, to build relationships.
She believes the Indigenous world view of everything being connected is essential to the work of the Agency. "No one is better than anyone or anything else," says Maria.
Planning Committee
Katherine R. LeReverend — Legal Counsel, Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
Faculty
Ray Bronson — Director of Administrative Reviews, Quality Assurance Branch, Office of the Provincial Director of Child Welfare, Ministry of Children and Family Development, Victoria
Dr. Matthew Carwana, FRCPC — Pediatrician, BC Children's Hospital and RICHER Program, Clinical Instructor, Division of General Pediatrics, UBC, Vancouver
Alyssa Collins — Child and Youth Advocate, Society for Children and Youth of BC, Vancouver
Brian Dybwad — Parents Legal Centre, Legal Aid BC, Campbell River
Dr. Emily Fisher — Developmental Pediatrics Fellow, Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children, UBC, Vancouver
Carley D. Gering — Director's Counsel, Legal Counsel, Director's Counsel Group, Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
Laura Hawes — Legal Counsel, Director's Counsel Group, Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
Kim Hetherington — Practice Development Consultant, Guardianship/Children and Youth with Support Needs, Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) Certified Phase I Clinician, Complex Care Intervention Program (CCI) Coach, Ministry of Children and Family Development, Abbotsford
Dr. Christine A. Loock, FRCPC, DAB — Developmental Pediatrician, Associate Professor, UBC; Medical Director, BCCH Cleft Palate Program; Specialist Lead, BCCH RICHER Program, North Vancouver
Claire L. Marchant — Manager, Practice Support and Equity Ombudsperson, Law Society of BC, Vancouver
Parveen K. Nijjar — Director's Counsel, Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
Crystal Reeves — Mandell Pinder LLP, Vancouver
Madhvi Russell — Senior Manager, Jordan's Principle, Indigenous Service Canada, BC Region, Vancouver
Sarah Sharp — Practice Advisor, Practice Support Department, Law Society of BC, Vancouver
Michelle Wywrot — Director of Provincial Practice, Ministry of Children and Family Development, Victoria
Course Materials Contributor
Danielle M. Young — Director's Counsel, Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
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