Beginning today, the Law Society’s Indigenous intercultural course is available to all practising lawyers in British Columbia. The course provides information regarding the colonization of British Columbia and Canada and its impacts on Indigenous Nations and individuals.
All practising lawyers in BC have up to two years to complete the free online course, and they may claim up to six hours of continuing professional development credits. The material has been organized into six modules, allowing for flexibility and different learning paces.
Development of the course was overseen by the Law Society’s Truth and Reconciliation Advisory Committee. From the end of September to December 15, 2021, approximately 800 volunteers previewed the course and provided comments for improvements. Survey responses were overwhelmingly positive, with 92 per cent saying they found the course valuable and 94 per cent saying they learned something new. Many of the lawyers, educators and Indigenous people who took part in the preview described the course as “informative,” “sensitive” and “very worthwhile,” with one calling it “a valuable course as a threshold for enlightening lawyers.”
In December 2019, the governing board of Benchers approved the development of the course and mandating this education as part of the Law Society’s commitment to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to action 27 by requiring a baseline Indigenous intercultural competence of lawyers. It is also part of a social responsibility to educate ourselves on issues and history relevant to the communities where we live and practise law.
Practising lawyers will receive an email that includes their individual log-in credentials to access the learning platform. Individuals who participated in the preview in 2021 may continue to use their previously issued log-in credentials and should not expect this email.