Board of Directors
The Indigenous Bar Association in Canada is run by a volunteer Board of Directors, with administrative support.
Drew Lafond
President
Drew was raised in Treaty 6 territory on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation reserve and is also of Shuswap descent from the Simpcw First Nation in British Columbia. He advises First Nations and Metis communities on matters related to economic development, gaming, housing, commercial leasing, and corporate governance, structure and finance.
Brooks Arcand-Paul
Vice-President
Brooks is a nehiyaw napew (Cree) from kipohtakaw (Alexander First Nation) in Treaty 6 territory, a treaty which was adhered to by kitâniskocâpân catchistahwayskum (his great-great-grandfather) at Fort Edmonton. Brooks has diverse experiences in Treaty 6, 7 and 8 territories within Alberta, and continues to appreciate the magnitude of all the promises laid out within those foundational documents.
Brooks is in-house counsel to the Alexander First Nation, Treaty 6,(Alberta). Brooks has been on the Board of Directors of the IBA since 2014.
Laura Sharp
Secretary
Laura Sharp is a Mohawk member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy from the Six Nations of the Grand River. She is from the Bear Clan. Laura previously served a two-year term as one of the IBA’s Student Representatives on the Board of Directors.
Laura completed a B.A. honours degree in Political Science at the University of Western Ontario in 2014. She graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto in June, 2019. While at Osgoode Laura was the Vice-Chair of the Osgoode Indigenous Students Association and worked to ensure the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #28 – the Call to Action which requires all law students to complete a mandatory course in Indigenous people and the law – was fully implemented at Osgoode Hall.
Over the past several years, Laura has worked as a summer student in the Professionalism and Policy Department at the Law Society of Alberta; assisted in developing an annotated United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) with Othlius Kleer Townshend (OKT) LLP; and completed Osgoode’s Aboriginal Lands, Resources and Governments Intensive Program where she was placed with West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) in Vancouver. At WCEL, Laura worked with the RELAW project team to develop an Indigenous-led environmental assessment process for a first nation that was grounded in their own Indigenous laws. Laura articled at Nahwegahbow Corbiere Genoodmagejig Barristers & Solicitors, an Indigenous owned and run law firm that serves Indigenous communities in a wide range of matters. She now works with Nahwegahbow Corbiere Genoodmagejig Barristers & Solicitors since her call to the bar in June 2020.
Jocelyn Formsma
Treasurer
Alexandria (Ajay) Winterburn
Member-at-large
Alexandria (Ajay) is Mohawk and Abenaki and from the turtle clan.
She received her JD from the University of Toronto, and her BA (hons) from the University of Alberta. Alexandria is an associate with Pape Salter Teillet LLP and specializes in Indigenous rights and Aboriginal law with a focus on issues including the duty to consult, negotiation and implementation of modern treaties and governance agreements, and partnerships between industry and Indigenous peoples. She is called to the bar in Ontario and Manitoba.
Anita Stewart
Student Representative
Anita Cardinal-Stewart is nehiyaw iskwew, a proud member of Woodland Cree First Nations #474 situated on Treaty 8 territory and a 2nd year law student at the University of Alberta where she is currently the President of Indigenous Law Students Association, she is also the newly elected President for NILSA. Prior to law school, Anita was a Paralegal in civil litigation and had the opportunity to work on such important files such as the Sixties Scoop, Newfoundland & Labrador Residential School claim settlement, Forced Sterilization (of which her mother is a Representative Plaintiff for in the Alberta class action) and many other historical sexual abuse claims. All these have been powerful motivations to enter into law school albeit later in life than most as a mature student. A mother to three sons and doting kokum to 2-year-old Niko she is an advocate for Indigenous Rights and youth Indigenous initiatives and is currently the Edmonton Program Leader for Level Justice IYOP and one of the writers for ReconciliAction YEG blog this year. In her spare time, she is an ultra trail runner and most days you can find her training for her next race on the beautiful Edmonton river valley trails.
Lori Mishibinijima
Member-at-large
Lori Mishibinijima is Anishinaabe from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory in Ontario. She is currently the Manager of Indigenous Initiatives at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she supports the Indigenization of the school and curriculum. Lori was Legal Counsel with the Human Rights Legal Support Centre for 10 years, where she provided legal representation to individuals respecting matters of discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code. She also acted as coordinator and helped develop the HRLSC’s Indigenous Service where she supported access to justice for Indigenous people. For the last sixteen years, she has been a member of the Community Council, a criminal diversion program at Aboriginal Legal Services. Lori has also served as the President of Native Men’s Residence Board of Directors from 2011 to 2018. In 2016, she was the recipient of the Minaake Award in Advocacy and Human Rights for her contributions to the Toronto Indigenous community.
Ethan Guthro
Student Representative
Ethan is a member of the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan and was raised moving throughout Western Canada. Ethan graduated with his Honours Bachelors of Arts in Regional and Urban Planning from the University of Saskatchewan in 2019, as well as from a concurrent certificate program in Sustainable Communities from the USask School of Environment and Sustainability. He is now in his second year of law at Osgoode Hall.
During his time as Osgoode, Ethan has become involved with the Osgoode Indigenous Students’ Association, the Osgoode Hall Law Journal, and Pro Bono Students Canada. In the summer of 2020, he worked with the Yellowhead Institute through the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General’s Debwewin Internship Program, as well as with the Osgoode Hall Office of Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation.
Sarah Morales
Sarah Morales (Sutax-iwye), JD (UVic), LLM (University of Arizona), PhD (UVic), PostDoc (Illinois) is Coast Salish and a member of Cowichan Tribes. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Victoria, Faculty of Law, where she teaches torts, transsystemic torts, Coast Salish law and languages, legal research and writing and field schools. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Victoria, she taught at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law where she taught Aboriginal law, Indigenous legal traditions and international human rights with a focus on Indigenous peoples.
Sarah’s research centers on Indigenous legal traditions, specifically the traditions of the Coast Salish people, Aboriginal law and human rights. She has been active with Indigenous nations and NGOs across Canada in nation building, inherent rights recognition and international human rights law.
