Pearl Eliadis to Deliver the Vigod Memorial Lecture in Human Rights

7:00 PM
Kinsella Auditorium, MMH

Award-winning lawyer, educator and author Pearl Eliadis will deliver the Dr. Bernie Vigod Memorial Lecture in Human Rights on October 22, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. in the Kinsella Auditorium, McCain Hall.

Pearl Eliadis is Associate Professor (professional) at McGill University and an award-winning lawyer, educator and author. From her private law practice based in Montreal, Pearl has successfully led complex, global projects for multilateral agencies, including the UN, and has participated in in-country missions in China, Ethiopia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Timor Leste. From 2000-2003, she was part of UN missions to Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide and has worked in human rights projects for Iraq and Afghanistan. Pearl has a decade of public service as Director of Policy and Education at the Ontario Human Rights Commission and Senior Director at the Policy Research Initiative (PCO) in Ottawa.

She has several publications on human rights, public policy and democratic governance with a social justice focus. Her 2014 monograph, Speaking Out on Human Rights: Debating Canada’s Human Rights System, won the Huguenot Society of Canada Award in 2015. Pearl’s current interests include evaluation and human rights, housing and health, the nexus between human rights and peace building, civil liberties, minority rights, and the protection of civil society and civic space. She is currently co-chair of the Quebec Homelessness Prevention Policy Collaborative's research stream on gender. In 2022, she was named to the federal government’s Expert Committee of the Court Challenges Program.

Pearl is deeply engaged with civil society and has served in leadership roles with several human rights NGOs. She is a full member of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism and a recipient of several awards, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Woman of the Year (Montreal Council of Women, 2009) and the Canada 125 Commemorative medal. She was named a Human Rights Change Maker in 2017 by Equitas. She is also an engaged advisor to law and policy students in Montreal and believes strongly in the importance of mentorship for emerging scholars and practitioners.

Pearl is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Quebec Bar Association and began her career at a national law firm. She was appointed three times as President of the Quebec Bar Association’s specialized human rights committee and continues to serve on its expert group on human rights.