Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond to receive honorary Law degree from McGill during Law's Convocation

McGill University will bestow its highest honour on 14 outstanding individuals by awarding them an honorary doctorate at its 2014 Spring Convocation ceremonies. Among them is jurist Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond.

One of Canada’s most distinguished jurists of aboriginal descent, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond is British Columbia’s first Representative for Children and Youth, an independent office of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, with a mandate to advocate for children and youth and protect their rights. She is currently on leave from the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan, where she was appointed in 1998, at the age of 35, the first Treaty Indian to be named to the bench in that province.

As an aboriginal rights lawyer, she worked on land claims with the Indian Law Resource Center in Washington D.C. and served as a key legal and constitutional advisor to aboriginal leaders. A graduate of Carleton University, York University and Cambridge University, Justice Turpel-Lafond also holds a doctorate from Harvard Law School.  

After receiving her degree, Justice Turpel-Lafond will give the Faculty’s convocation address on Wednesday, May 28, 2014 at 10 a.m.