Career
A law degree is a perfect way to fulfil the lifelong goal of a law student.
After working on some of the essential Indigenous laws as a legal paralegal, Anita Cardinal-Stewart graduated from law school and has a genuine desire to represent her people.
A caption that appears on the junior high yearbook photo reads, “Dreams of being a lawyer or an actress.”
This was when Anita Card-Stewart was full of optimism, and everything seemed feasible. But as she entered her teens, living in northern Alberta, in Woodland Cree First Nation north of Alberta, the hope waned.
“I started to see how hard it was for First Nations people, especially women,” she recalls, her memory making her cry. “Suddenly, the dream seemed unattainable.”
When she was 17, she was expecting her first child of three. She was finishing high school in the comfort of home via correspondence.
A grandmother of 46 years, Cardinal-Stewart, has finally arrived nearing the point of achieving the dream of a teenager at the very least, the half.
After working on some of the essential Indigenous legal cases in paralegal, including the Sixties Scoop and the Newfoundland and Labrador Residential School claim settlements — she’s finishing her studies at the Alberta’s University of Alberta with a law degree.
She was also this year’s winner of the first Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella Prize, which is presented through the Royal Society of Canada to one law student who graduates from each law school in Canada.
“When I was younger, I was often ashamed of being Indigenous. It was hard growing up like that,” Cardinal-Stewart said. “Now I’m not embarrassed anymore since I’m aware of who I am.
“I’m not scared; I’m excited about the future. I’m confident in what I believe in and know I’ll do the best to serve my community.”
The path to that confidence has been long. After having their son, the mother took a course in business administration at the local community college. She then moved to MacEwan University for a diploma in management studies.
“My grandparents and my grandmother both attended residential schools. My father also advocated for education as he believed it was a way to get out of poverty. I had a wonderful loving family,” she says.
She was an education counsellor on her reserve and later an executive assistant to the council of band members. At the same time, she married her husband and had two children.
I’m excited for the future. I know what I believe in, and I know I’m going to do the best I can for my community.
Anita Cardinal-Stewart, ’22 LLB
Once they reached the age of maturity reached the age of 18, she made the career shift just one more step toward her Yearbook aspirations. In her heart, she wanted to become a lawyer but was convinced it was not a realistic possibility: “I figured being a paralegal was the closest I could get.”
She went back to MacEwan for training in paralegals. She then landed a job in Cooper Regel in Sherwood Park. This law firm began to work on significant Indigenous cases, including that of the Newfoundland and Labrador Residential School Settlement in 2017.
“In Happy Valley-Goose Bay, I was sitting in the front row at Justin Trudeau’s apology to survivors of residential schools,” she states, adding she knew that Steven Cooper, a senior partner of her firm, was involved in the case for ten years.
“It was incredible. It was the moment I decided that I wanted to go back to school to pursue my Bachelor of Arts to go to law school. Even if I didn’t speak that out loud, I held the idea close to my chest.
“I never said it to anyone, not even to myself.”
She began to take classes at The U of A. However, it wasn’t until after she had the opportunity to meet Catherine Bell, a professor of the Faculty of Law, at an event for speakers in the university that she decided to take a risk.
“She told me, ‘Take it on. What are you waiting for?’ And that’s when I thought, “Really? You can do this today?’ I then thought, “Why not? So I enrolled in the LSAT.”
Law school began for her in the autumn of 2019, and it was soon apparent she was on the right track to fulfilling her dream. But the school was only half the story. The work she performed outside of the classroom was just at least.
The unmarked graves of 215 students from a residential school were discovered last May; the cardinal Stewart immediately called for a vigil in Kamloops’ provincial legislative chambers.
“Our hearts were broken in our communities, so I put out the word on social media and had about 600 people there within 48 hours,” she adds.
“It simply reenergized me and reminded me of why I went to law school in the first place. It wasn’t to advance my career but for my community. I realized that I must promote my cause in every manner I can and through whatever platform I can use.”
According to her supervisor, Steven Cooper of Cooper Regel, she’s the perfect person to achieve this.
“She’s got the life skills of a grandma, of somebody raised in a fairly traditional Indigenous language and cultural environment, so she is in the sweet spot to do the sort of work that’s important to her and the clients; she’s going to represent,” Cooper says. Cooper.
“A good paralegal leads, not follows,” the lawyer says. “Many people who graduate from law school cannot see the problem and break it into its smaller elements. Anita is a skilled problem solver who can come up with solutions that are often innovative and go above that which is apparent.”
A devoted marathon runner, She organized a fundraising race to support Orange Shirt Day last September. She raised 10,000 for the local charity Water Warriors YEG, Bear Clan Patrol, and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.
In the meantime, she was helping Cooper Regel with a significant class-action suit after having learned in her first sociology lecture about sterilization forced on numerous Indigenous women in Alberta under the Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928.
When she learned that her mother was among the women — forced into sterilization after the birth of their second son, although she was hoping to have more kids — the Cardinal was angry.
Cooper has agreed to join the case and got her mom to serve as the representative for the plaintiff. Cooper is still waiting for information on the suit’s progress, which was filed in late 2018. The plaintiff is seeking damages of $500 million and an additional 50 million dollars in punitive damage for all Indigenous women who have been sterilized in Alberta without their consent.
“That’s a perfect example of where she can maintain a professional distance,” Cooper says. Cooper. “I think this is her mommy. It’s personal for her.”
If that wasn’t enough, Cardinal-Stewart has also been co-president for two terms of the National Indigenous Law Students Association and writes for the award-winning blog Reconciliation Action Youth for Global Growth.
The doting kokum she gives her grandson, who is three years old, Niko is also an avid activist for the rights and protections of Indigenous youth. She is also the programme director of Edmonton’s Level Justice Indigenous Youth Outreach program aiding in the empowerment of Indigenous youth with mentoring and education in justice.
“I remember what it was like to be young and not have opportunities, to not know what was possible,” she recalls.
“My junior-high years were filled with hope, but the hope waned. I’d like to see it disappear for (today’s young people) also so that they don’t have to wait until their 40s as I did.”
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