Kwe Today

I am a, what the legal profession calls, a young lawyer. I was called to the Ontario bar in 2018. By my second year of practice, in 2019, I decided to open my own practice. I have a personal belief that it takes two years to make change happen. Let me tell you a story.... In 2012, I started writing about a court challenge that was eventually heard at Canada's highest court. The federal government introduced a bill in response and, two years later, I was the only First Nations woman with lived experience to publicly oppose the bill at Parliament’s standing committee on Justice and Human Rights. Not long after, Amnesty International reached out to me and I advised them on the application of the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) in the context of sex work regulation. By 2016, and two years later, Amnesty International published its policy on protecting sex workers’ human rights. That policy referenced FPIC. Come 2017, I was writing about the #ProfessionalRegulation of Indigenous lawyers. Throughout 2018, I worked with a group of senior lawyers to advocate for changes to the #LawSocietyofOntario’s (LSO) admission process for lawyers. As the story goes, two years later, the LSO adopted my changes. Two years. Small (or big) change: www.meetnaomi.com #Indigenous #Lawyer [Image is of Naomi sitting & tells viewers that she opened her own practice. She shares her story.] Photo credit: Jessica Blaine Smith

The MMIWG report chronicles exploitation without really defining it | #MMIWG2S #NationalInquiry #NIMMIWG2S https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/exploitation-1.5160860

It’s time for the government to take responsibility. https://www.cbc.ca//government-will-be-hesitant-to-adopt-g #MMIWG2S #cdnpoli #Genocide

The #CindyGladue appeal: No justice without us. https://www.meetnaomi.com//the-cindygladue-appeal-no-justi

Hi everyone, I hurt myself earlier this week. The injuries are pretty bad. I require my mom to help me heal. I recently had surgery where they apparently put in over 10 screws (the nurse stopped counting after 10). If you can, please donate. If you can’t, please share. You can message me for my mom’s email to send her an EMT. https://www.gofundme.com/help-support-naomi039s-healing