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30/08/2005

ICC Chief Commissioner Appointed as a Member of Order of Canada

Ottawa (August 30, 2005)— The Chief Commissioner of the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) has been named to the Order of Canada. Renée Dupuis is to be inducted into the Order by the Governor General on September 9, 2005, in recognition of her contributions in the field of law.

Madame Dupuis, a lawyer from Quebec City, was appointed to the Commission in March 2001 and named Chief Commissioner in June 2003. She has had a private law practice since 1973, specializing in the areas of aboriginal peoples, human rights and administrative law. She has served as legal advisor to a number of First Nations and aboriginal groups in her home province, representing them in their land claims negotiations with the federal, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador governments and in constitutional negotiations.

Chief Commissioner Dupuis served two terms as a Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission and is chair of the Quebec Bar’s committee on law relating to aboriginal peoples. She has acted as consultant to various federal and provincial government agencies, authored numerous books and articles and lectured extensively on administrative law, human rights and aboriginal rights.

Among the honours she has been accorded in recognition of her work are the Quebec Bar Foundation Award (2001), the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction (2001), the YWCA’s Women of Excellence Award (2002) and the Quebec Bar Association’s Christine Tourigny Merit Award (2004).

Chief Commissioner Dupuis is a graduate in law from the Université Laval and holds a master’s degree in public administration from the École nationale d’administration publique.

The Indian Claims Commission is a temporary body established in 1991. Its mandate is twofold: to inquire, at the request of a First Nation, into specific land claims that have been rejected by the federal government; and to provide mediation services at the request of the parties for claims in negotiation.