Kimberly R. Murray to Serve as Chair for the Expert Panel on Policing in Indigenous Communities

The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) is pleased to announce Kimberly R. Murray as Chair of the newly appointed Expert Panel on Policing in Indigenous Communities.

“Ms. Murray’s extensive background in law, particularly as it relates to Indigenous communities, including directing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada as Executive Director, makes her ideally suited to lead this project” said Eric M. Meslin, PhD, FCAHS, President and CEO of the CCA. “We are delighted she has accepted the invitation to Chair and look forward to her leadership of this distinguished expert panel.”

As Chair, Ms. Murray will work with the multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral Expert Panel to address the following assessment questions, referred to the CCA by Public Safety Canada:

• Building on the research study Policing Canada in the 21st Century: New Policing for New Challenges, what could be drawn from the current evidence and knowledge about the present and future role of police services in Indigenous communities in Canada?
• What are some promising and leading practices in policing that could be applied in Indigenous communities? 

Ms. Murray will lead the CCA Expert Panel to assess the available evidence and deliver its final report by mid-to-late 2018. The Panel is comprised of individuals who have expertise, experience, and demonstrated leadership in policing; law, justice, and governance; sociology and criminology; and community health and well-being. Panel members were identified with guidance from the CCA’s Scientific Advisory Committee and input from its Member Academies — the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. The depth of the Panel’s experience and expertise, paired with the CCA’s rigorous assessment methodology, will ensure the most authoritative, credible, and independent response to the question.

“Policing in Indigenous communities has distinct challenges and opportunities,” said Ms. Murray. “As Chair I look forward to working with the Panel to assess leading practices that could be applied to meet some of these challenges, and to expand on the previous CCA study.” 

In April 2015, Ms. Murray became the Province of Ontario’s first-ever Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Aboriginal Justice. Prior to this position, Ms. Murray was the Executive Director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada where she worked to ensure that survivors of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools system were heard and remembered, and to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. From 1995 to 2010, Ms. Murray was staff lawyer and Executive Director of Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto. Ms. Murray is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the 2017 Indspire Award for Law and Justice. Ms. Murray is a member of the Kahnesatake Mohawk Nation.

For a complete list of Expert Panel members, their biographies, and details on the assessment, please visit the assessment page.

The Expert Panel on Policing in Indigenous Communities                                                         

• Kimberly R. Murray (Chair), Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Indigenous Justice Division, Ministry of the Attorney General (Toronto, ON)
• Jimmy Sandy Akavak, O.Nu., Director of Marketing, Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping; Former Sergeant, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Iqaluit, NU)
• Harley Crowshoe, Senior Advisor, Indigenous Health Program (South Zone), Alberta Health Services (Lundbreck, AB)
• Mylène Jaccoud, Professor, School of Criminology, University of Montréal (Montréal, QC)
• Laurence Kirmayer, FRSC, FCAHS, James McGill Professor and Director, Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University; Director, Culture and Mental Health Research Unit, Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital (Montreal, QC)
• Naiomi Metallic, Assistant Professor and Chancellor’s Chair in Aboriginal Law and Policy, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS)
• Kent Roach, C.M., FRSC, Professor and Prichard-Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto (Toronto, ON)
• Philip Stenning, Adjunct Professor, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University (Queensland, Australia); Honorary Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban, South Africa)
• John William Syrette, Chief of Police, Anishinabek Police Service (Garden River, ON)
• Norman E. Taylor, President, The Global Network for Community Safety Canada Inc. (Oshawa, ON)