Alberta lawyers must take Indigenous education course tied to TRC. New legislation could change that

A little more than five years ago, the regulator for Alberta’s lawyers made an announcement: moving forward, all active lawyers in the province would be required to take mandatory Indigenous cultural competency training.

The law society is governed by 24 individuals known as benchers. Those benchers had agreed that all Alberta lawyers, as “key contributors to the socio-economic fabric of society,” had a responsibility to be informed, whether a lawyer’s practice involved Indigenous clients or not. 

“The justice system [has] an obligation to share a baseline understanding of how Indigenous clients experience the law in our province and across Canada,” reads a letter attributed to Kent Teskey, who was the president of the Law Society of Alberta at the time.

Teskey explained the decision was tied to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's “calls to action.” Those are 94 action items laid out a decade ago, intended to repair the harms caused by residential schools.

For the law society, the action item in question urged organizations like theirs to require education on “the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal-Crown relations.”

The training that emerged for the law society was called "The Path," a one-time requirement that takes about five to six hours to complete. It’s been in place since 2021, and the Law Society says the majority of active lawyers have completed it. 

But things could be changing.

On Thursday, Justice Minister Mickey Amery introduced Bill 14, legislation that aims to introduce a suite of changes to the province’s political and legal landscape. 

Some of those changes are tied to the law society.

The legislation says the law society must limit the education and training it requires to a law degree or qualification certificate, the bar admission course, education or training for specialized roles, and education for training imposed because of disciplinary proceedings.

All of those must comply with the restrictions imposed in Bill 13, the government’s Regulated Professions Neutrality Act (RPNA), which was introduced in late November. It states that regulators can’t require “cultural competency, unconscious bias, or diversity, equity and inclusion training.”

The law society declined an interview request, citing a need to review the new legislation to “fully understand” what it means for the group and Alberta’s legal profession.

Neil Singh, press secretary for the Advanced Education Ministry, wrote in a statement that if passed, the government expects all professional regulatory bodies to comply with the act.

“If a regulator is not faithfully adhering to the RPNA, a regulated professional may raise concern with the regulator and, if necessary, seek judicial review of a regulator’s decision,” reads the statement.