Family, friends, and colleagues gathered on November 20, 2024 to celebrate The Law Foundation of Ontario’s 2024 Guthrie Award recipient: John Borrows. The Guthrie Award is the Foundation’s signature award to recognize exceptional access to justice champions.
Professor John Borrows, BA, MA, JD, LLM, PhD, LLD, DHL, DLitt, FRSC, OC, is recognized as one of the world’s leading scholars and educators on Indigenous law. He is a professor and the inaugural Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. Previously, he served as the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria, Faculty of Law. John is Anishinaabe/Ojibway and a member of the Chippewas of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario.
The Guthrie Award Reception was held at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. We were privileged to have Elder Constance Simmonds, the Faculty of Law Elder-in-Residence, open and close the ceremony. We were also pleased to have Dean Jutta Brunnée, who nominated John for this award, and Justice Catrina Braid share a few remarks. Our Board Trustee, Gerald Chan hosted the event and had the honour of presenting John with the Guthrie Award Medal. John captivated the room. He spoke about his life and the important lessons of engaging with and respecting different types of people and perspectives, which he elegantly illustrated through the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt.
- Watch a video of the speeches below and on YouTube.
- See photos from the celebration below.
- Read the full award announcement.
00:21 – Gerald Chan, Board Trustee, The Law Foundation of Ontario
01:30 – Jutta Brunnée, FRSC, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
08:45 – The Honourable Catrina Braid, Superior Court of Justice, Central South Region
16:57 – Gerald Chan, Board Trustee, The Law Foundation of Ontario
23:04 – Professor John Borrows, Guthrie Award recipient
