For more than a decade, Indigenous legal scholars, First Nations and the founders of the world’s-first Indigenous law degree program at the University of Victoria have worked to realize a National Centre for Indigenous Laws (NCIL). Construction is now underway.
The Law Foundation of British Columbia today announced it is increasing its total commitment to NCIL to $11 million, boosting their initial $5-million funding commitment to help complete the new centre. The foundation is UVic Law’s largest donor since the inception of the faculty in 1976.
“The Law Foundation of BC is honoured to support the construction of a beautiful and fitting new home for scholars who are working to advance the recovery and resurgence of Indigenous laws. This new space will help breathe life into the learning and work that takes place there, where teachers and students support Indigenous communities seeking to articulate and apply their laws to contemporary challenges. UVic is leading the way in transforming what legal education means and the new centre will be at the heart of that transformation.”
—Josh Paterson, Executive Director, Law Foundation of British Columbia.
The law foundation’s latest gift is in addition to commitments from the BC government of $13 million in 2020 and $9.145 million from the federal government in 2019.
“This physical structure represents a sanctuary where our laws, which enable us to be peoples, will be safe, and where both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students will learn about those laws, creating the foundation to a multijuridical Canada.”
—Val Napoleon, Acting Dean of Law, Professor, and Law Foundation Chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance.