Valérie Lapointe-Gagnon is an Assistant Professor of History and Linguistic Rights at the Faculté Saint-Jean. She holds a doctorate in history from Laval University and is interested in the intellectual history of contemporary Québec and Canada, the contribution of intellectuals to society and constitutional issues. Her recent research explores the place of women in the Canadian political and intellectual history during the sixties. She published Panser le Canada, une histoire intellectuelle de la Commission Laurendeau-Dunton (Boréal, 2018), awarded by the Prix du livre politique de l’Assemblée nationale du Québec. She is the vice-president of Acfas-Alberta and member of the board of the AIEQ (Association internationale des études québécoises).
Leah McDaniel
Centre for Constitutional Studies Advisory Board, University of Alberta
General Public
Leah is a Barrister & Solicitor with the Constitutional and Aboriginal Law team at Alberta Justice. She is a graduate of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, where she was the recipient of the Horace Harvey Gold Medal in Law for the highest standing in her graduating class. Following graduation, Leah clerked with the Alberta Court of Appeal, before commencing her legal career in private practice. She joined Alberta Justice in 2019.
Leah is also a sessional instructor of Canadian Human Rights Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta. Before law school, Leah obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a specialization in Finance, and worked as a Management Consultant with a large national consultancy firm.
Joshua Nichols
Centre for Constitutional Studies Advisory Board, University of Alberta
Board Members
Joshua Nichols holds a B.A. (Hons.) In political science and an M.A. in sociology from the University of Alberta; a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Toronto; a J.D. from the University of British Columbia; and a Ph.D. in law from the University of Victoria. He is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, the International Law Association and a research fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (https://www.cigionline.org/
Steven Penney
Centre for Constitutional Studies Advisory Board, University of Alberta
Board Members
Steven Penney is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta. Born and raised in Edmonton, he received a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School. He researches, teaches, and consults in the areas of criminal procedure, evidence, substantive criminal law, privacy, and law and technology. He is co-author of Criminal Procedure in Canada and co-editor of Evidence: A Canadian Casebook and is a member of the advisory boards of the Alberta Law Review and Canadian Journal of Law & Justice. Previously, he was Associate Dean (Graduate Studies & Research) at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta; Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario; Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick, and law clerk to Mr. Justice Gérard V. La Forest of the Supreme Court of Canada. A selection of his recent research may be found at: https://ssrn.com/author=88
Nate Whitling
Centre for Constitutional Studies Advisory Board, University of Alberta
General Public
Throughout his legal career, Nate has carried out a diversified practice in a wide array of subject matters, but now focuses primarily upon Criminal Law and human rights. Nathan has appeared before appeals courts across Canada, including many appearances as lead counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada. Nate has also acted as counsel in the United States, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Nate is listed as counsel in more than 150 reported decisions.
Jared Wesley
Centre for Constitutional Studies Advisory Board, University of Alberta
Board Members
Dr. Jared Wesley is a pracademic — a practicing political scientist and former public servant — whose career path to the University of Alberta Department of Political Science has included senior management positions in the Alberta Public Service (APS). While in Alberta’s Executive Council, he gained valuable experience in the development of public policy and intergovernmental strategy. He also served as Director of Learning and Development in the Alberta Public Service Commission, establishing policies and curriculum to train public servants at all levels of the APS. He studies and teaches the politics of bureaucracy and the bureaucracy of politics, and is co-author of two leading books: The Public Servant’s Guide to Government in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2018) and Inside Canadian Politics (Oxford University Press, 2016).
Linda Trimble
Centre for Constitutional Studies Advisory Board, University of Alberta
Board Members
Linda Trimble is a Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Alberta. She joined the Department in 1989 and has served as its Chair and Associate Chair. Her research investigates gendered news coverage of political leaders. Recent publications include Ms. Prime Minister: Gender, Media and Leadership, published by University of Toronto Press in 2017, and “Julia Gillard and the Gender Wars,” (Politics & Gender, 2015). Linda is currently working on an international research project investigating women’s pathways to political power at the subnational level of government in Canada and Australia.
Tom Rothwell
Centre for Constitutional Studies Advisory Board, University of Alberta
General Public
Tom is a graduate of the University of Alberta and holds a law and economics degree. Immediately following graduation from law school, he clerked for the Honourable Mr. Justice Major at the Supreme Court of Canada. Tom began his legal career in private practice and joined Alberta Justice and Solicitor General in 2004. He has held a number of positions within the Government of Alberta and is presently the Director of the Constitutional and Aboriginal Law team. Additionally, Tom co-instructs Constitutional Litigation at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta.
Tom holds the position of President of the St. Thomas More Lawyers’ Guild of Northern Alberta and has previously sat on the boards of the Edmonton Police Foundation and the Alberta Law Foundation.
Judy Piercey
Centre for Constitutional Studies Advisory Board, University of Alberta
General Public
Judy Piercey is a former journalist and retired Managing Director of CBC Edmonton who is now a partner in Pen and Lens Communications. She has had a lifelong interest in human rights and spent most of her career writing stories about marginalized Canadians. As a reporter, Judy specialized in stories about Indigenous issues, natural resources and conflict over land use. Her interest in Indigenous people took her to CBC north, where she reported on-air and produced stories from around the Northwest Territories.
As Managing Director of CBC Edmonton and Northern Alberta, Judy was CBC’s senior manager for Radio, TV and Digital. A talented community leader, Judy brought diverse groups into CBC to engage in crucial public policy discussions. She is also an advocate for human rights and female empowerment, serving on the Alberta chapter of Think Equal (http://www.thinkequal.com). She was the driving force behind Building Empathy, Conquering Apathy, an annual human rights conference in Edmonton that she chaired in 2016 and 2017.
Judy has just completed her first novel and is currently writing her second book of non-fiction.
James Muir
Centre for Constitutional Studies Advisory Board, University of Alberta
Vice-Chair
James Muir is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and Classics and in the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta. Professor Muir has published on a number of topics in Canadian legal history such as procedure at the first session of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in 1755, the development of personal injury, tort and contract in nineteenth-century Nova Scotia, and legal historiography. He has a forthcoming book on the law in practice in eighteenth century Halifax. He is Vice-Chair of the Edmonton Community Legal Centre Board and serves as the Vice-President of the Alberta Labour History Institute.
