Child Legal Representation Conference

Best Practices in Child Legal Representation Conference

June 6 & 7, 2024 – Coast Canmore Hotel and Conference Centre, Canmore, Alberta

The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate (OCYA) is hosting its biennial Best Practices in Child Legal Representation conference on June 6 and 7, 2024, at the Coast Canmore Hotel and Conference Centre in the beautiful town of Canmore. This year, we will be offering in-person and limited virtual attendance.

Tickets are now available! Check out the LRCY conference website to register.

Questions?

Please contact Kirsten Wiebe at LRCY.information@ocya.alberta.ca.

Past Conferences

Promoting Excellence in Child Legal Representation – October 24 & 25, 2022

River Cree Resort and Casino, Enoch, Alberta

This two-day conference was held in person and online, focusing on exploring child participatory rights and Improving child legal representation practices.

Main stage speakers included:

The Honourable Justice Anna Loparco, Professor Nicholas Bala, Dr. Rachel Birnbaum, Cindy Turner KC – Children’s Participation in The Family Court Process: Recent Alberta Precedent (Re L)
Myrna McCallum – Trauma-Informed Lawyering and Advocacy

View the conference agenda here: LRCY Conference 2022

Children’s Participation in Justice Processes: Finding the Best Ways Forward

A National Symposium on Hearing the Voice of the Child in Legal Proceedings

September 15 & 16, 2017 – Calgary Alberta

This two-day national symposium gathered leading stakeholders to share information and talk about how the voices of children and youth are heard, their interests are protected, and their evidence is received in justice processes.

Mainstage speakers included:

Sheldon Kennedy of the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre and
Nicole Sherren of the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative.

Finding the Best Ways Forward was a project of the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family and the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate Alberta and was generously funded by a grant from the Alberta Law Foundation.

Conference Program
Conference Pictures

2015 Conference – Calgary, Alberta

The Best Practices in Child Legal Representation Conference was held May 6-8, 2015, in Calgary at the Sheraton Cavalier Hotel.

Mainstage speakers included:

The Honourable Judge Harry M. Van Harten, Provincial Court of Alberta
The Honourable Judge John Reilly (ret)

View the 2015 Conference Brochure Here
For Full Bios Click Here

2013 Conference – Jasper, Alberta, Canada

The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate hosted its 2nd biennial Best Practices in Child Legal Representation conference on October 27-29, 2013, in Jasper, Alberta, at the beautiful Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.

The conference had a particular focus on the rights of the child.

Mainstage speakers included:

Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada
Bruce Perry, Senior Fellow of the ChildTrauma Academy, adjunct Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, and inaugural Senior Fellow of the Berry Street Childhood Institute.
The Honourable Judge M. J. Savaryn, Provincial Court Judge, Family Division, Edmonton, Alberta

View the 2013 Conference Brochure Here

For more information on the next conference, please contact:

Kirsten Wiebe
Phone: (780) 422-6104
Toll-free in Alberta: dial 310-0000, then (780) 422-6104
Email: Kirsten.Wiebe@ocya.alberta.ca