The Clinic receives helpful guidance from its Advisory Committee. The members of the Committee bring a wealth of expertise from a variety of contexts. The Advisory Committee will meet at least twice annually and will communicate regularly on matters of importance to the Clinic’s governance.
Marilyn Dolmage
Marilyn Dolmage works alongside people labelled/with intellectual disabilities, their families, schools and communities to access justice, challenge segregation and create new supports, relationships and opportunities – especially through inclusive education and direct funding.
She and her husband Jim were Litigation Guardians for the class action concerning the Ontario government’s operation of Huronia Regional Centre. She had been social worker for Lead Plaintiffs Marie Slark and Patricia Seth in that institution, where her brother died. Although they were upset that historic harm would not be aired at trial, and frustrated with the claims process and compensation provided by the 2013 settlement, it led to a public apology from the Premier of Ontario, andits unclaimed cy pres funds have been used to document survivors’ experiences.
Marilyn is an Associate of Inclusive Education Canada and a founding member of Inclusion Action in Ontario and People for Personalized Funding.
Her forthcoming book challenges ableism and encourages advocacy for inclusion - through poetry, personal stories and professional reflection.
Katherine Strongwind
Katherine is a Sixties Scoop Adoptee,
and the volunteer Director of the 60s Scoop Legacy of Canada - a Non Profit Organization (NPO) aimed at healing and wellness for Survivors and their families. The 60s Sixties Scoop Legacy of Canada was formed in 2017 and offers peer-support and advocacy for thousands of Survivors/Adoptees all over the world. In 2018, Katherine was a presenter at the Expert Mechanism for the Rights of Indigenous People Session 12 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Katherine was born and adopted from birth in Winnipeg, Manitoba from a non-Indigenous mother and an Indigenous father. Katherine has re-established her Anishinaabe roots and continues to fight for Survivors and their families of the Sixties Scoop to regain their rights and for long term healing supports. Katherine is a mom of three and has three grandchildren.
An entrepreneur experienced in NPO startups, marketing and communications, and event planning, Katherine has spent years building relationships and overseeing many major events including the record-setting 2022 South Island Powwow, 2021 Orange Shirt Day and Canada Day rallies in Manitoba, multi media campaigns, and facilitating gatherings and workshops.
Gemma Smyth
Gemma Smyth is Associate Professor and Externship Program Director at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor. Her expertise lies in clinical legal education, placebased learning, and dispute resolution. She was previously Director of University of Windsor Mediation Services and Academic Clinic Director with Legal Assistance of Windsor and Community Legal Aid. She is passionate about access to justice and experiential approaches to legal education.
Valarie Waboose
Valarie G. Waboose is an Anishinabe Kwe from Bkejwanong Territory (also known as Walpole Island First Nation). She is a great-grandmother of 2, grandmother of 7 and mother of two daughters. She is a second-generation survivor of two parents that attended Shingwauk Indian Residential School and completed her Ph. D. dissertation (Trent) on the impacts of the class action compensation processes upon residential school survivors.
Valarie is currently Assistant Professor at University of Windsor, Faculty of Law and has taught Aboriginal Law, Access to Justice, Indigenous Legal Traditions, Reconciliation and the Residential School Legacy, Indigenous Legal Orders and Anishinabe Law Camp. Her research interests include Indigenous Legal Traditions/Orders and methodologies, child welfare, reconciliation and the residential school legacy and indigenous justice systems.
Alison Warner
Alison is the registrar of the Ontario Judicial Council and the Justices of the Peace Review Council. Alison previously worked at the Court of Appeal for over 20 years as legal research counsel and as the Court’s Senior Legal Officer. Alison also worked at the Centre for Judicial Research and Education in the Office of the Chief Justice, Ontario Court of Justice, where she designed and delivered judicial education to members of the Ontario Court of Justice bench. In addition, she was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law where she taught the course Appeals: Principles and Practice. Alison is a co-author of the text, The Law of Class Actions in Canada (Toronto: Thomson Reuters Canada, 2015), together with the Hon. Warren K. Winker, Justice Paul M. Perell and Professor Jasminka Kalajdzic.
As a firm believer in the benefits of experiential learning for law students, Alison is grateful to have a role as a member of the advisory committee of the Class Action Clinic
