About_the_IB&M_Initiative - Dalhousie Law School

About the IB&M Initiative

The IB&M Initiative was established in 1989 to reduce structural and systemic discrimination by increasing the representation of the Indigenous Black and Mi'kmaw people in the legal profession.

The creation of the IB&M Initiative was the result of a number of factors including:

(1) the efforts of African Nova Scotians and Mi'kmaw people to gain access to legal education and the legal profession and to address race in the legal system; and

(2) the Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall Jr. Prosecution, which examined racism in the justice system and found that there were very few Indigenous Black lawyers in Nova Scotia and no Mi'kmaw lawyers; and

(3) a Dalhousie university-wide study on access.

Faculty members at the Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law were involved in these initiatives and joined with the community members to launch the IB&M Initiative.

The IB&M Initiative works to ensure that Mi'kmaw and African Nova Scotian students, and other Aboriginal and Black students, are represented at the Schulich School of Law. The Initiative involves community outreach and recruiting; providing student financial and other support; developing scholarships in the areas of Aboriginal law and African Canadian legal perspectives, and promoting the hiring and retention of graduates.

Students who enter the Schulich School of Law through the IB&M Initiative join the regular first class, write the same exams, complete the same work and earn the same LL.B. degree as do all other students at Schulich School of Law.

Since inception of the IB&M Initiative, more than ninety Black and Aboriginal graduates have secured employment with private law firms, Aboriginal organizations, and government legal departments; and have taken up a rang of leadership roles across Nova Scotia and beyond.