Biography
Dr. Kim Stanton works to address a range of Indigenous rights issues as a member of our Aboriginal law practice group. Kim’s practice more broadly focuses on constitutional and public law and includes providing strategic advice to clients and colleagues on constitutional law issues, human rights matters and equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Kim completed her honours undergraduate degree at the University of Calgary, her law degree at the University of British Columbia, and Masters and Doctoral degrees in law at the University of Toronto. In addition to practicing Aboriginal and constitutional law in British Columbia and Ontario, Kim has worked with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Gaza Strip and with the Ghana Center for Democratic Development in Accra, where she was an Official Observer of Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission.
A former Legal Director of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), Kim worked with community-based organizations and built coalitions across the country while leading the national equality rights organization to intervene before multiple appellate courts and the Supreme Court of Canada to advance equality rights in cases spanning topics such as Aboriginal law, criminal law, human rights law, socioeconomic rights, and reproductive justice. During her tenure, LEAF made significant contributions to discourses on judicial accountability, the law of consent and the treatment of Indigenous women in the criminal justice system.
Kim served as an adjudicator on the Ontario Health Professions Appeal and Review Board and Health Services Appeal and Review Board from 2012 to 2019. A Senior Fellow of Massey College, Kim’s academic work focuses on constitutional law, transitional justice and public inquiries. In 2016, the federal Minister of the Status of Women appointed Kim as an inaugural member of her Advisory Council on the Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence. Kim completed two terms on the Council.
Kim served as a Commissioner on the joint federal/provincial public inquiry into the April 2020 mass casualty in Nova Scotia (the Mass Casualty Commission) from 2020-2023. The Commission’s final report, which addresses issues including gender-based violence, policing, access to firearms and public alerting, is available here. In fall 2023, she is a Visiting Scholar with the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at Melbourne Law School.