Pathways to Justice: Strengthening Legal Advocacy for Police Accountability
This event brings together legal professionals, community advocates, and those impacted by police violence to explore legal avenues for accountability. Through roundtable discussions, workshops, and dialogue, participants will examine systemic barriers, legal strategies, and policy reforms that can drive change. The day will foster collaboration, amplify survivor voices, and identify actionable steps to strengthen legal advocacy in policing oversight.
Using Administrative Mechanisms - Possibilities and Challenges Workshop
This session explores the effectiveness and limitations of shelter standards in ensuring accountability and dignity for low-income individuals within the shelters. As increasing numbers of people are pushed into houselessness and encampments, they are left more vulnerable to criminalization and harmful interactions with police. This workshop will examine the use of complaints processes, human rights mechanisms and collective advocacy strategies to address harms experienced in shelters. The discussion will offer insights into systemic barriers, oversight challenges and opportunities for reform to better protect the rights and well-being of shelter residents.
Following the presentation, participants will engage in a facilitated dialogue and workshop to unpack the findings together, explore the practical implications and co-create ideas for advocacy and action.
Explore Collective Legal Avenues for Police Accountability
What does meaningful police accountability look like and how can collective legal strategies help achieve it?
In this evening session, legal professionals and community advocates will critically examine the possibilities and limitations of using the law to address police misconduct and systemic harm. Drawing from experience in prosecution, civil litigation, oversight investigations, and human rights advocacy, panelists will explore how legal tools, from systemic litigation and administrative complaints to policy reform and community advocacy, can be used to challenge abuses of power.
Together, they will identify gaps in current accountability mechanisms, share lessons from their respective legal and policy arenas and propose ways to strengthen collective action through the courts and beyond. The session invites active dialogue on how to evolve legal practice and community engagement to ensure police oversight systems are truly responsive to public needs.
Moderator:
Sam Mason (in person)
Sam Mason (they/she) was born and raised in Edmonton (amiskwaciwâskahikan). They were the Provincial Accessibility Coordinator at Voice of Albertans with Disabilities for 6 years. In that position, they did accessibility audits of many Edmonton landmarks and built relationships with many citizens that are committed to accessibility. Graduating from MacEwan University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Commerce, Sam has brought her skills in marketing, economics and sociology to the non-profit sector as she has always been passionate about improving the lives of others. Sam believes every business, industry and service can be improved when there is a focus on accessibility.
Sam is the current chair for the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights (CJHR) where they continue to push for equality and justice for all people. Sam is increasingly engaged in anti-poverty work and advocating for both accessible and affordable housing. They believe in the principles of harm reduction and intersectionality and practice meeting people where they are at and understanding that everyone’s experiences differ.
Panelists:
Ron MacDonald (in person)
Ron MacDonald is a recently retired lawyer with over 39 years of experience in Canada’s criminal justice system. He served as both a Crown prosecutor and defence counsel in Nova Scotia before becoming the founding Director of the province’s Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT). He later led British Columbia’s Independent Investigations Office (IIO) as Chief Civilian Director until 2024. With 13 years in police oversight leadership—Canada’s longest tenure—Ron brings unmatched insight into systemic accountability, policy reform, and the complexities of independent investigations. He is a past president of both the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and has received multiple national awards for his legal and community service.
Jatin Shory (in person)
Jatin Shory is a partner at Shory Law LLP and a leader in immigration and refugee law. Based in Calgary, his advocacy spans local and international contexts, including government advisory roles on policy and legal strategy. Jatin brings a community-centered perspective on how legal systems interact with marginalized populations—particularly racialized newcomers—and how advocacy can be mobilized through and beyond the courts. Jatin is also an Adjunct Instructor at Queen’s University, where he teaches Family Class Immigration, and serves on the board of the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth. Jatin continues to champion equitable access to justice and effective police management, ensuring that marginalized communities receive the representation and support they deserve.
Latoya Farrell (virtually)
Latoya Farrell is a practicing lawyer and Staff Counsel with the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA). Originally from Fort McMurray and raised in Edmonton, she earned her law degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 2018, with additional studies in International Criminal Law at the University of Birmingham. Latoya began her legal career as an articling student with the BCCLA and later served as Staff Counsel in its Policy Department. From 2020 to 2023, she held a Governor in Council appointment with the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Outside of her legal work, Latoya is a passionate visual artist whose work has been featured in exhibitions including 5 Artists, 1 Love at the Art Gallery of Alberta.
Amy Matychuk (virtually)
Amy Matychuk is the founder of Prison and Police Law, a Calgary-based practice focused on police misconduct and prison justice. Her litigation and administrative law work centers the rights of criminalized individuals, and she actively contributes to systemic change through her roles with the Alberta Prison Justice Society and the Canadian Prison Law Association. Amy offers insight into civil and administrative approaches to misconduct, grounded in lived realities of carceral harm.
Chris Wiebe (in person)
Chris practices civil litigation and administrative law. He helps clients with lawsuits against police and prisons in the Court of King’s Bench, and administrative complaints against police and peace officers. He acted as co-counsel for the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights in its constitutional challenge of the City of Edmonton’s encampment eviction policy.
Prior to law school, Chris studied music composition and worked for two years as a housing first worker in Edmonton. During law school, he coordinated the Student Legal Services (SLS) Legal Education and Reform Project, where he distributed legal information to unhoused Edmontonians and co-wrote a report about the disproportionate number of transit tickets and bans that unhoused Edmontonians receive on transit.
Magdalene Scaglione (in person) Magdalene Scaglione is a recent graduate of the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law. During her studies, she completed a practicum with the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights through the Low Income & the Law course, and served as a researcher for the 2023–24 Jessup Moot. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Thompson Rivers University, where she graduated with distinction and received the TRU Arts Merit Award. Magdalene is passionate about using the law to advance social justice and support individuals facing economic hardship.
We would like to thank the City of Edmonton and the Department of Justice, Government of Canada, for making this event possible.
