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« Who Gets to Belong ? »
This summer, the Observatory on Human Rights at the United Nations, based at the Civil Law Section of the University of Ottawa, will undertake a mission to Geneva and Cambridge focused on Indigenous women's experiences of identity, belonging, and legal recognition. The delegation will present its research, screen a documentary, and engage with international partners at the United Nations, diplomatic missions, and the University of Cambridge.
Under the leadership of Professor Pascale Fournier, Founding Director of the Observatory, the delegation brings together students, recent graduates, researchers, and partners from the Observatory's Leadership Program. Organized in collaboration with Mélanie Vincent, Founder and Executive Director of KWE! Meet with Indigenous Peoples and a collaborator of the Observatory, the mission forms part of a broader initiative funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The initiative seeks to advance dialogue on Indigenous rights, identity, belonging, and legal recognition while providing students with hands-on experience engaging with international institutions.
Members of the delegation include Civil Law Section students and recent graduates Océane Chabanol, Harleen Kaur Jawanda, Laurence Laperriere, Mateo Alejandro Porras Gil, and Haylee Reid, who will contribute to the mission's research activities, discussions, and international exchanges.
At the heart of the mission is Who Gets to Belong?, a documentary produced by KWE! Meet with Indigenous Peoples in active collaboration with the Observatory's student leaders. The film explores the experiences of Indigenous women affected by sex-based discrimination under the Indian Act and examines how the transmission of legal status shapes identity and community belonging across generations. It features the testimonies of several Indigenous women, including Observatory Pilots Jeannette Corbiere Lavell and Dr. Dawn Memee Lavell-Harvard.
50 Years of the Quebec Charter Conference
This conference marks the 50th anniversary of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms by creating a space for collective reflection that goes beyond simple commemoration. It invites participants to consider what the Charter has made possible, the limits it has encountered, and the responsibilities it will be called upon to carry in the decades to come.
Rooted in the specific context of Quebec — particularly the recognition of socio-economic rights, its grounding in a francophone legal culture, and its dialogue with international human rights law — the conference approaches the Charter both as a legal instrument and as a shared social and cultural project, shaped by interpretation, practice, and lived experience.
The day is designed to be accessible, balanced, and engaging, combining legal reflection, field experience, student research, artistic creation, and public dialogue.
This conference, organized in collaboration with the team of the Observatoire des droits humains à l’ONU, is financially supported by the Forum pour le dialogue Alex-Trebek, the Section de droit civil, the Conseil de recherche en sciences humaines du Canada (SSHRC), and KWE! À la recherche des peuples autochtones.
The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, Avocats sans frontières Canada, and the law firm Grey Casgrain are acting as partners of the event.
Looking Back on 50 Years of the Quebec Charter
The conference opens with a retrospective reflection on the evolution of the Charter, its distinctive features within the Canadian constitutional landscape, and the main challenges that have shaped its interpretation and application over the past fifty years. This opening moment establishes the conceptual framework for the day.
Panels
The Quebec Charter in Action
This panel examines the Charter as law in practice, focusing on how rights are mobilized on the ground by legal, institutional, and community actors. It highlights the gaps between formal guarantees and lived realities, as well as issues of effectiveness, access, and institutional accountability.
The Quebec Charter in Reflection
This panel approaches the Charter as an object of critical reflection, exploring the most debated rights, persistent interpretive tensions, and areas in which the Charter appears particularly innovative or forward-looking — notably in relation to socio-economic rights, the protection of minorities, and fundamental freedoms.
The Quebec Charter in Question
The student-led panels constitute the heart of the conference. Drawing on their research and fieldwork, students identify blind spots, grey areas, and tensions in the application of the rights guaranteed by the Charter. They introduce the key issues and moderate discussions with invited speakers.
Perspectives for the Next 50 Years of the Quebec Charter
Building on the student discussions, this reflection turns toward the future of the Charter. It examines the conditions necessary for it to remain a living instrument — capable of adapting to social, institutional, and political transformations while preserving its normative strength and structuring role in public action.
Experiential, Cultural, and Participatory Moments
These moments complement the intellectual journey of the conference by offering alternative ways of engaging with rights through experience, culture, participation, and creative expression.
Languages, Identities, and Living Rights — An Immersive Experience
An immersive linguistic and cultural experience highlighting Indigenous languages and expressions as spaces of transmission, recognition, and dignity.
Advocating Rights — A Living Charter Exercise
A short, focused moot court competition enabling students to put the principles of the Charter into practice through legal argumentation and public speaking.