Reconciling Traditions: A legal workshop on access and benefit sharing, indigenous traditional knowledge, and biodiversity

Event Date: 
Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - 3:00pm EDT
Event Location: 
PACI Auditorium

The relationship between the federal government and Canada's indigenous peoples has undergone a number of historic developments. The election of a new government in Ottawa, the long-anticipated release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report into Canada's residential schools, and the launch of a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls are kindling hope for a new partnership.

The current level of public engagement on issues critical to Aboriginal peoples is unprecedented - and it represents an exciting opportunity for indigenous lawyers and law students. Join ABS Canada, a research group made up of professors, leading practitioners, and indigenous law students for an engaging discussion on a subject that has escaped this enhanced national attention: the laws, policies, and practices surrounding access to and use of "genetic" resources from Aboriginal lands, and associated traditional knowledge (TK).

As a range of stakeholders turn to Aboriginal TK and genetic resources to develop new products and adopt strategies for sustaining biodiversity and protecting the environment, a number of important questions emerge. How should this knowledge be shared, if at all? Can it ever be commercialized? How is access granted, and benefits shared? How do we engage these issues at the national and international level?