Lori Sterling is currently senior counsel at Bennett Jones LLP and an experienced board director. Lori has over 30 years experience in both federal and provincial governments. At the federal level, she was Canada’s Deputy Minister of Labour and Associate Deputy Minister, Employment, Skills Development Canada and previous to that, she was the Associate Deputy Minister of Justice for Canada. At the provincial level, she was the Deputy Minister for Indigenous Affairs. Lori has extensive constitutional law litigation expertise with a specialization in freedom of expression. She received the United Nations Public Service Award for Building Aboriginal Relations in 2013 and was named a Hill Times Top 100 Most Influential Powerful & Influential People in Government & Politics in 2018.
Michael is a civil and commercial litigation lawyer with Babin Bessner Spry LLP in Toronto. He has appeared before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Canada, and before the Supreme Court of Canada. He is qualified to practice law in Ontario and Quebec and is bilingual. In 2012-2013, Michael clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for Justice Andromache Karakatsanis. Prior to his legal career, he worked as a political risk consultant for financial institutions in London, UK. He also served as an officer in the Royal Canadian Navy (reserve).
Jean Teillet, IPC, OMN, MSC, (BFA, LLB, LLM) Ms. Teillet’s popular history, The North-West is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel’s People, the Métis Nation was one of the Globe & Mail’s top 100 books of 2019 and won the Carol Shield’s and Manitoba Day awards. She is the author of Métis Law in Canada and has written for academic journals, the Globe & Mail and Macleans. Jean is a treaty negotiator and a women’s rights and Indigenous rights litigator. She has appeared at the Supreme Court of Canada twelve times. A frequent public speaker, she has three honorary doctorates and is an honorary lifetime member of the Association of Ontario Midwives. Ms. Teillet was a professional dancer, actress, and producer, and her visual artworks are held in public and private collections in Canada and the United States. Ms. Teillet is the great-grandniece of Louis Riel.