AFOA Canada Faculty Highlight
Yvonne Boyer
Yvonne Boyer currently holds the Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Health and Wellness and a Associate Professor of Native Studies at Brandon University; an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Ottawa and a member of Graduate and Doctoral Studies at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Boyer is a member of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan and owns Boyer Law Office, where she specializes in providing holistic services that blend mainstream law with Indigenous laws. She is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and Law Society of Saskatchewan. She was the former General Counsel to the Native Women's Association of Canada and spent several years working at the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and its "sister" organization the National Aboriginal Health Organization. In 2008 the Governor in Council appointed Yvonne for a three year term as a Canadian Human Rights Commissioner.
With a background in nursing, she has nearly 20 years of experience practicing law and publishing extensively on the topics of Aboriginal health and how Aboriginal and treaty law intersects on the health of First Nations, Metis and Inuit. Her research program at Brandon University is a practical application of these two disciplines.
Yvonne received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Saskatchewan, Master of Laws and Doctorate of Laws from the University of Ottawa and in 2012 completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Indigenous People's Health Research Centre.
In 2014 Yvonne was chosen as one of 8 people in Canada to be a holographic narrator in the Turning Points for Humanity Gallery. On the 4th floor at the Museum she introduces museum visitors to the theme of Indigenous Rights and invites them to learn more through short videos that include missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada, and the displacement of Indigenous groups from their traditional lands.
Yvonne is the mother to four children and three grandchildren.
In her words,
"I bega
n doing some work for AFOA in 2013 when Paulette asked if I would review the business law curriculum. I knew who AFOA was because AFOA had gained a very strong reputation as community leaders and agents of change through education. I practice law in this area and it was enjoyable for me to put myself in the place of the student and truly understand what they needed to know to be effective in their field. After I delivered the first course with Paulette I was hooked! I am very happy to continue updating the course material when required and delivering it. I love going into the communities and talking to each and every student and helping them understand how the law affects everything we do and how it can be used as a good tool to effect change."
