Hamilton legal clinic faces backlash over Indigenous representation concerns

Those who participated say the clinic has broken its “Indigenous Justice initiative,” and the clinic no longer has an Indigenous liaison to help those in need.

A group of concerned people say the non-profit Community Legal Clinic serving low income residents of Hamilton is suppressing Indigenous voices by not providing access to an Indigenous liaison.

“When you are working with Indigenous people, you need Indigenous people to advise and guide you on how to best work with us. So when you ignore that, that’s oppression. That’s like, we’ll tell you how we’re gonna service you or how we are going to work with you, and that’s not equality,” said Audrey Davis, a concerned community member.

In 2013, the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic established an Indigenous Justice initiative with the goal of building relationships between the clinic and the Indigenous community.

Part of that agreement was providing an Indigenous Justice coordinator to act as a knowledge keeper and liaison between the Indigenous community and the clinic.

However, those rallying say that Indigenous Justice coordinator, named Lyndon George, is gone and is no longer representing the community.

“He is very much an active participant in the community. Yes, he is well liked. He sits at many tables. He takes the lead on a lot of the work and is just a good Indigenous, two-spirited man,” said Davis.

The executive director at the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic declined to comment on the rally.

In the clinic’s own report, they write that this Indigenous Justice coordinator “plays a critical role in connecting Indigenous clients to the services they need.”

Those rallying say the clinic needs to listen to Indigenous voices because communication has broken down, and trust has been lost.

“I hope that the Hamilton Legal Clinic responsibly and honourably addresses these concerns and then further takes the steps to conduct their organization in a better way,” said Myka Burning, another concerned community member.

They say the clinic is not respecting its own agreement.