M. Margaret Froh
President

Policy, Law & Compliance Officer
5884 Rama Road, Suite 200
Rama, ON L0K 1T0
Phone: (705) 325-3611 ext. 1248
Fax: (705) 325-4841
Email: mfroh@indigenousbar.ca

Margaret is Métis from the Qu’Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, currently working as in-house legal counsel for the Chippewas of Rama First Nation in Ontario.

Margaret is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law (1996) and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1998. Prior to her current work as Policy Law & Compliance Office for the Chippewas of Rama, Margaret served as the first ever Aboriginal Issues Coordinator for the Law Society of Upper Canada, and had a workers’ rights law practice (employment, human rights & union side labour law) in Toronto.

Margaret is a former adjunct faculty member at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and a current member of the faculty of the Banff Centre’s Aboriginal Leadership and Management Program, serving as Faculty Leader in their Principles and Practice of Good Governance course.

Margaret has served on many boards for Aboriginal community organizations, including as past President of Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, and as a director for the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. Margaret is currently a director for the St. Eugene Golf Resort Casino in Cranbrook, BC, a unique partnership between three geographically and culturally diverse First Nations (the Chippewas of Rama in Ontario, the Samson Cree Nation in Alberta, and the Ktunaxa Nation in British Columbia).

Grace Auger
Vice-President

Barrister & Solicitor
Rath & Company
Box 44, Site 8, RR1
Priddis, AB  T0L 1W0
Phone: (403) 931-4047 ext. 8
Fax: (403) 931-4048
Email: gauger@indigenousbar.ca

Grace attended the University of Calgary where she earned her Bachelor of Laws. She was admitted to the Law Society of Alberta in 1997. Grace has completed her Mediation Certificate from the Legal Education Society of British Columbia.

Grace practiced as a Crown Prosecutor in Calgary for the first five years gaining a great deal of courtroom experience. She then went on to the Siksika Legal Aid office for five years, where she focused on a variety of legal issues and attended both criminal and family court.

Grace is a member of the Bigstone Cree Nation from northern Alberta. Grace has spent several years along with her late husband Dale being active in theatre and the arts as a means to bridge the gap between the aboriginal community and western society. Grace’s three adult children are following in their father’s footsteps and are becoming successful artists, which is a passion for the family.

Grace is happy to be back at Rath and Company to pursue her long term goal of practicing Aboriginal law and helping First Nations to protect and preserve their rights. Grace’s vast courtroom experience will certainly assist in that pursuit.

Koren Lightning-Earle
Treasurer

Sasakamoose Law Office
Box 2440 Hobbema, AB T0C 1N0
Phone:  (780) 585-3793 ext. 213
Email: klightning-earle@indigenousbar.ca

Koren Lightning-Earle is Cree and from Samson Cree Nation, Alberta. Koren has a Bachelor of Arts in Recreation and Leisure Studies and a Bachelor of Arts Special in Sociology. She graduated from Law School in 2007 at the University of Alberta.

She was recently called to the bar in February 2009 and had the honour of having her Bar Call on her Reserve of Samson Cree Nation being called by Chief Justice Wachowich and Federal Court Justice Mandamin.

Koren works in a small two-person firm with Sasakamoose Law Office in her home community of Samson.

She sits on the board on directors for Samson Management Ltd and is a sessional instructor at Maskwachees Cultural College.

Tania Monaghan
Secretary

Gatineau, Quebec
Email: tmonaghan@indigenousbar.ca

Wachiya,

Tania is a member of the Cree Nation of Wemindji located on the eastern coast of James Bay, Quebec.

Tania graduated from Laurentian University with a Certificate in Aboriginal Legal Education and a B.A. in Law & Justice/ Native Studies. Tania is a graduate of the Program of Legal Studies for Native People at the University of Saskatchewan. She obtained her LL.B from the University of Windsor in 2008, where she served as the President of the Aboriginal Law Students’ Association from 2006-2008.

Tania was first elected to the IBA board of directors as a student representative in 2006, and reelected in 2008.

Tania articled at University of Ottawa Legal Clinic in the Aboriginal Division where she worked directly with the Aboriginal community in Ottawa.

She is currently attending the National Civil Law Program at the University of Ottawa, where she will obtain her LL.L in 2010. Upon completion of the LL.L program, Tania will be applying for admission to the Barreau du Quebec.

Brenda Gunn
Members–at–Large

Assistant Professor
University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law
300K Robson Hall
Winnipeg, MB  R3T 2N2
Phone: (204) 272-1667
Fax: (204) 474-7580
Email: bgunn@indigenousbar.ca

Brenda joined the University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law in July 2009. She has a B.A. from the University of Manitoba and a J.D. from the University of Toronto. She completed her LL.M. in Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy at the University of Arizona.

She articled with Sierra Legal Defence Fund (now Ecojustice Canada). She was called to the Law Society of Upper Canada and Manitoba.

Brenda also worked at a community legal clinic in Rabinal, Guatemala on a case of genocide submitted to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. She also consulted on a treaty rights case in Manitoba.

She currently teaches Constitutional Law and International Law. Her general research interests are the protection of Indigenous peoples' rights in domestic and international law.

Emma Taylor
Members–at–Large

404-660 Eglinton Ave. W.
Toronto, ON  M5N 1C3
Phone: (416) 952-6940
Cell:  (647) 330-355
Email: etaylor@indigenousbar.ca

Emma Taylor is Anishinaabe-kwe and a member of Curve Lake First Nation.

She has an Honours Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management from Carleton University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toronto.

In June 2009, Emma was called to the Ontario Bar and is now counsel with the Department of Justice in Toronto. There, she divides her time between the Indian Residential Schools team and the Aboriginal Advisory section. Emma lives in the city with her wonderful husband, Lionel.

She is glad to be back on the IBA Board after serving as a student rep in 2005-2006 and looks forward to spending some time and energy on issues faced by recent law school graduates and newly called lawyers.

Drew Lafond
Members–at–Large

1600 Centennial Place
520 - 3rd Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 0R3
Phone: (403) 693-4336
Email:  dlafond@indigenousbar.ca

Drew is a Cree-Shushwap First Nation from Treaty 6 territory. He was born and raised on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and has ties to the Chu Chua First Nation in British Columbia.

He completed his B.A. Honours in Public Administration at the University of Saskatchewan in 2006. He received his LLB from the University of Victoria in 2009. During his studies, he served as the President of the Indigenous Law Students Association and participated in the Kawaskimhon Aboriginal Rights Moot in 2008.

He is currently articling with MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman in Calgary, Alberta.

Drew was elected to the board of the Indigenous Bar Association in 2007 as a student member and was re-elected to the board in 2009.

Fallon Spencer
Student Representatives

#504 - 2325 Central Park Drive
Oakville ON L6H 0E2
Email:  fspencer@indigenousbar.ca

Ahnii.

Fallon Spencer is Ojibway from Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve located on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Fallon grew up in the Toronto area where she spent most of her time enrolled into competitive and professional ballet at both the National Ballet School and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School.

As a young woman she realized she wanted to do more than dance, and pursued undergraduate studies at the University of Western Ontario. Fallon obtained a B.A. in philosophy, in her third year she did an exchange to Denmark. Fallon is currently attending the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Common Law in her third year of studies.

In the past years Fallon has been fortunate to work at the University of Ottawa Legal clinic in both the Women and Aboriginal division’s. Fallon served on the executive for the Aboriginal Law Students’ Association and has enjoyed time spent with some of the most influential Aboriginal legal scholars. Serving as the student representative for the Indigenous Bar Association has allowed Fallon to meet, listen and learn from so many wonderful Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal advocates, students, practitioners, judges and academics.

Raquel Fraser
Student Representatives

Victoria, BC
Email: rfraser@indigenousbar.ca

Racquel is a Cree, second year law student at the University of Victoria. She completed the Bachelor of Arts program at the University of Lethbridge in 2004.

Racquel then spent a year working for the Waitangi Tribunal in
Wellington, New Zealand. Following this, she worked as a research officer for the Alberta Aboriginal Legal Education Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.

Racquel enjoys traveling, running, serving on various committees at the law school, and spending time with her loved ones.

She was elected as the student representative on the IBA Board of Directors in October, 2009.

Anne Chalmers
Administrative Support

70 Pineglen Crescent
Ottawa, ON
K2G 0G8
Phone: (613) 224-1529
Email:achalmers@indigenousbar.ca