UAlberta Law Assistant Professor Malcolm Lavoie and his wife Moira first met through varsity swimming, with him representing the University of British Columbia, she the University of Calgary. At that time they were rivals. Today they are not only affiliated with the same faculty (he as a professor, she as a JD student), but also academic collaborators.
As a first year law student, Moira Lavoie was already entering territory unfamiliar to most undergraduates by co-publishing a paper entitled "Land Regime Choice in Close-Knit Communities: The Case of the First Nations Land Management Act".
Scheduled for publication in the Osgoode Hall Law Journal, the paper focuses on the ramifications of the 1999 First Nations Land Management Act, specifically how First Nations have exercised their powers under this Act in relation the transferring of land interests, and in doing so freed themselves from old strictures imposed by the Indian Act.
Publishing a peer-reviewed paper in a major journal is itself a major achievement for an undergraduate. Winning a major award from the Canadian Association of Law Teachers (CALT) together with her husband (and alongside fellow UAlberta Law faculty member Dr. Irehobhude Iyioha), is above and beyond that, and something Moira Lavoie was most definitely not expecting this early in her legal education.
"It's been a surreal experience, especially coming in the middle of exams" she said of hearing the news.
"I feel lucky and proud that we got to write this paper together, and it's certainly something we hope to continue doing."
Moira Lavoie may be new to law and legal research, but her extensive background in public policy and indigenous affairs gives her a wealth of experience to draw upon in her research. From 2011 to 2015, she worked in the office of the federal Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, first as Policy Advisor and later as Director of Policy and Regional Affairs. In 2016 she served as Consultation Policy Coordinator with the Alberta Department of Indigenous Relations, a role she maintained on a part-time basis throughout her first year of studies.
Her decision to pursue a law degree stemmed from a growing awareness of gaps in her own knowledge that only education in law could fill.
"Working in Aboriginal policy you get immersed in the legal world," she explained.
"I came to realize that I was limited in the type of insight I could provide because I didn't have the legal training. Also, I simply came to realize that this was something I really enjoyed."
For Malcolm Lavoie, netting a CALT award is a major honour - made all the more special by being able to share it with his wife.
"Writing a paper with Moira was a terrific experience. We each had complementary areas of expertise that came together really nicely in what I hope will be a meaningful scholarly contribution."
"It's a great honour to follow in the footsteps of the outstanding legal scholars who have won this award in the past, including U of A law professors Moin Yahya and Eric Adams. It's also nice to get to share this award with my colleague Ireh Iyioha. The fact that two of the three papers honoured this year involved recently hired U of A faculty members is just one indication of the special things that are happening in this faculty."
Professor Malcolm Lavoie and Moira Lavoie will receive their award together with Prof. Iyioha at CALT's annual conference, held this year in Victoria from June 8 to 10.
Congratulations to you both! We look forward to many more such collaborations.