Profile

When John Borrows' great-great grandfather signed a treaty in 1854 between the Chippewas of the Nawash First Nation and the Crown, he believed that millions of acres of land in Southern Ontario would be held in trust for future generations. The Crown's failure in this matter initiated Professor Borrows' interest in law, leading him to become a respected international scholar, specifically in the field of Indigenous Legal Traditions and Aboriginal Rights.

With a zeal for the learning process, Professor Borrows has pursued close connections with Indigenous teachers, scholars, and leaders in Canada, Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. He has developed programs of research and teaching at the University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Victoria. He holds the Law Foundation Chair in Aboriginal Justice and Governance at the Faculty of Law of the University of Victoria and recently served as the Visiting Scholar in Residence with the Law Commission of Canada, writing a book about Indigenous Legal Traditions in Canada.

Continuing to build on his relationships with institutions and individuals, Professor Borrows hopes his Fellowship will lead to the formation of the first Indigenous Law Degree in Canada taught in a Canadian law school. "Indigenous laws can become more prominent in answering disputes and questions we have about our society's organization. I would like to help facilitate this process. The recognition and implementation of Indigenous law across a wider spectrum would address questions of social justice, responsible citizenship, Canada's role as a multi-juridical nation in the world, and our relation to the natural environment."

Biography

John Borrows is the Law Foundation Chair in Aboriginal Justice and Governance at the Faculty of Law of the University of Victoria. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the field of Indigenous Legal Traditions and Aboriginal Rights. He is Anishinabe and a member of the Chippewas of the Nations First Nation on Georgian Bay.

Professor Borrows has been at the forefront of Indigenous legal education initiatives in Canada, having developed programs of research and teaching at the University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Victoria. He has also furthered his work in the field as a Visiting Professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, Waikato University in New Zealand, Arizona State University in the United States, the Native Law Centre at the University of Saskatchewan and Akitsiraq Law School of the University of Victoria in Nunavut. Most recently, he served as the Visiting Scholar in Residence with the Law Commission of Canada, writing a book about Indigenous Legal Traditions in Canada. His publications include Aboriginal Legal Issues: Cases, Materials and Commentary (Butterworths, 1998) and Recovering Canada: The Resurgence of Indigenous Law (University of Toronto Press, 2002).

Professor Borrows is a recipient of a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in the area of Law and Justice, the Donald Smiley Award for the best book in Canadian Political Science in 2003, the International Visiting Fellowship of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, and the New Zealand Law Foundation Fellowship. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

John Borrows obtained his Bachelor, two Masters degrees, a Bachelor in Law and a Masters in Law from the University of Toronto; he is Doctor Juris from Osgoode Law School.

Trudeau Foundation Themes

People and their Natural Environment  » 
Responsible Citizenship  » 
Canada and the World  » 
Human Rights and Social Justice  »