Laurier expert alert: Canada Day

June 28, 2023
For Immediate Release

WATERLOO — Wilfrid Laurier University is home to scholars examining Canada’s history and contemporary culture in the spirit of truth and reconciliation. Ahead of Canada Day, Laurier experts are available to speak about issues related to Indigenous-settler relations, Indigeneity, national politics and electoral reform.

This list includes Laurier experts who are available to speak at this time but does not represent the full breadth of expertise at the university. For a more comprehensive inventory of Laurier’s faculty researchers, please consult the Experts at Laurier database.

Percy Lezard, assistant professor of Indigenous Studies, is an expert in Indigenous knowledge, Two-Spirit pedagogies, community Indigenous health, missing and murdered women and 2SLGBTQ+, and gender-based violence in 2SLGBTQ+ communities. Lezard is outma sqilxw of the Penticton Indian Band in British Columbia and centres Indigenous knowledge, teaching and research methodologies in their work. They are a survivor of the multi-generational impacts of the residential school system and the Sixties Scoop. Read more about Lezard’s work. Contact: plezard@wlu.ca

Susan Neylan, an associate professor in the Department of History and expert on the history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations in Canada, is available to speak about the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the church in British Columbia in the 19th and 20th centuries, aboriginal-missionary relations and forms of Indigenous Christianity. Contact: sneylan@wlu.ca

Brian Tanguay, professor emeritus in the Department of Political Science, is an expert on political parties and party systems, particularly the transformation of social democratic and nationalist parties in Canada, as well as electoral reform in liberal democracies. Contact: btanguay@wlu.ca

Darren Thomas is Laurier’s associate vice-president: Indigenous Initiatives. The most senior Indigenous leader at Laurier, Thomas provides strategic advice, support and expertise to academic and administrative units across the institution to achieve goals related to Indigeneity. As a researcher, he focuses on Indigenous rights, resource governance and self-determination. Thomas has worked in the educational, health care and child welfare sectors to support efforts to improve services as the sectors work toward reconciliation and Indigenization. Recently, he authored and launched Laurier's Indigenous Strategic Plan. Contact: dthomas@wlu.ca