Name: Vancouver Human Rights Lecture: Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Aboriginal Human Rights | Session D – Community Partners: Cross-Cultural Learning
Date: Thursday, November 1
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Sty-Wet-Tan, First Nations Longhouse, 1985 West Mall, UBC Point Grey
Description: Bob Watts has been involved in many major Indigenous issues in Canada over the past 20 years and led the process, with support from across Canada and internationally, to establish Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is examining and will make recommendations regarding the Indian Residential School era and its legacy. He was Interim Executive Director of the Commission and was a member of the team which negotiated the historic Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
His current activities include working with Mediate BC to recommend ways for Aboriginal communities to respond to changes to the Canadian Human Rights Act and working on the Siting Process with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. He is an adjunct professor and fellow in the School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University, and a frequent speaker on Aboriginal issues.
Bob is also a former CEO of the Assembly of First Nations, served as the Chief of Staff to the Assembly of First Nations‘ National Chief Phil Fontaine, and is a former Assistant Deputy Minister for the Government of Canada. He is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and fellow at the Harvard Law School. Bob is from Mohawk and Ojibway ancestry and is a member of the Six Nations Reserve.
The 2012 Vancouver Human Rights Lecture is presented in collaboration with The Laurier Institution, CBC Radio One, the UBC First Nations House of Learning and the First Nations Studies Program at UBC. The lecture will be recorded for national broadcast on Ideas, CBC Radio’s program of contemporary thought.
Ticketing: FREE – Please Register or call 604.822.1444
Open to Public, Recommended for all Adult Learners