Our Staff

Aislin (she/they) joined the BCCLA as Staff Policy Counsel in July 2023. They were born and raised in Mohkinstsis/Calgary on the Treaty 7 lands that are the traditional territory of the Niitsitapi and Tsuut’ina peoples. She is a settler living on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

Aislin attended law school at the University of Toronto, where she was Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Indigenous Law Journal and a student caseworker in the family law and residential tenancy departments of the school’s legal clinic. Aislin started their legal career in the Treaty 7 area, representing First Nations in a variety of areas of law, including historical claims and child protection matters. They later practiced family and estates law in the Lower Mainland, serving Legal Aid clients and 2SLGBT+ families.

Outside of law, she has a background in linguistics, Indigenous language documentation/revitalization, and computer science. In their free time, they practice the soft arts: knitting, spinning, weaving, sewing, and quilting

Bríd (she/her) is originally from Ireland and has been an uninvited settler on the unceded and ancestral land of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) people since January 2021.

Prior to joining BCCLA in January 2023, Bríd worked within the immigration and employment rights sector. Most recently, in organizational development and financial management and previously organising with migrant workers in the agri-food & domestic care sectors, working collectively to platform worker voices in community, policy & governance spaces, and enabling workers to speak out about exploitative conditions and access their rights. She has also worked to challenge conditions in immigration detention and volunteered with befriending services for peopled detained.

Alongside this, Bríd has worked with organizations across the non-profit sector, supporting them to develop the strategic planning, engagement models, and infrastructure needed to grow their fundraising and financial sustainability. She is passionate about funding accountability and transparency, and works to ensure that communities and organizations can access and use funds to have the biggest impact possible.

Camy (she/her) joined the BCCLA as Donations and Operations Coordinator in 2023. She was born, raised, and is currently living on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples.

Prior to joining the team at BCCLA, Camy held various roles across multiple organizations within the non-profit sector. Her experience spans over several fields including research & database design, policy writing, and fundraising. As an advocate for social justice, Camy is committed to utilizing her skills in fund development to ensure individuals and communities feel accepted, supported, and empowered.

Camy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Criminology from Simon Fraser University, with additional Certificates in Social Justice and Legal Studies. From her studies, Camy is continually learning to approach aspects of her personal and professional life through sociological critical lenses.

As a self-proclaimed foodie, Camy spends her free time exploring different restaurants or testing new recipes at home. She can also be found either weightlifting, playing video games, or cuddling her adorable dog, Ayla.

Ga (she/her) joined the BCCLA as Staff Litigation Counsel in 2022. Ga brings four years experience in legal practice serving First Nations with a focus on Indigenous rights, litigation, and specific claims. Previously, Ga clerked with the BC Supreme Court, assisted with legal aid work on Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en territories, and summered with government and a boutique litigation firm, among other community justice work. Ga holds her Juris Doctor from the University of Victoria following her Bachelor of Music from the University of Ottawa. 

Ga was called to law to find creative and strategic use of the colonial legal system as a tool for justice, practiced alongside a lens of decolonial engagement. Ga is a settler of immigrant Lebanese and Jewish-American descent. She grew up on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples and for the past decade has lived between the territories of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Esquimalt), and W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich) peoples.

Ga is also a musician and singer-songwriter; she can often be found writing new ditties and hanging out with her cat.

Born in Fort McMurray, Latoya relocated to Edmonton at the age of three. Graduating from Archbishop MacDonald in 2003, she continued her post-secondary education at Augustana in Camrose, AB. In 2018, Latoya graduated from the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan, after studying International Criminal Law at the University of Birmingham in England. Latoya was hired as the articling student at the BCCLA, and subsequently worked as Staff Counsel in the Policy Department. In 2020, she took a three-year Governor in Council appointment with the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Latoya is excited to reprise her role as Staff Counsel with the BCCLA. In her spare time, she is an avid artist. She has been featured in several art shows including 5 Artists, 1 Love at the Art Gallery of Alberta.

Leila (she/her) joined the BCCLA in 2020. She was born and raised in Mexico before becoming a settler in unceded Coast Salish territories. Leila has over seven years of experience in the not-for-profit Arts sector. Her background ranges from administrative support for small business to large event and project management. She has worked for the Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, and the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, where she served the human resources and financial operations with a lens in accessibility, inclusion, and system development. She is an avid reader of fiction and gender theory and is passionate about her involvement in social change.

Leila holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from the University of British Columbia.

Liza (she/they) is a queer white settler of mixed European ancestry. She spent most of her life on Treaty 7 territory of the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Tsuut’ina and Stoney-Nakoda in Mohkinstsis (Calgary). Since 2017 Liza has lived between the stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ people and the Kʼómoks First Nation, including the Pentlatch, Eʼiksan and Słułtxʷ tribes.

Liza is a community organizer, artist, lawyer, and educator. Her law practice began at The Law Office of barbara findlay, KC, where she participated in strategic litigation and coalition building with the Gender Free ID Coalition. She developed a niche practice supporting trans kids and working to expand the rights of polyamorous and queer families. Liza spent several years at Grace, Snowdon & Terepocki LLP, working on an array of civil litigation and prison justice issues. She is Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Comox Valley Arts Council. Liza led the launch of the Sexual Harassment Advice, Response and Prevention (SHARP) for Workplaces program at the Ending Violence Association of BC and has worked with Community Legal Assistance Society to design, develop, and deliver numerous public legal education resources and trainings aimed at promoting workplace safety and conducting workplace culture change. She is deeply committed to the protection of civil liberties and the necessary foundation of human rights and dignity for all.

Meghan McDermott joined the BCCLA as staff counsel in March of 2017. With a B.A. in philosophy from Concordia University, her compassion and curiosity drove her to study law at the University of Victoria so that she could collaborate with others to pursue law reform in the interest of enhancing social justice. She has an LL.M. from the University of Edinburgh where her studies focused on whether parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have a responsibility to share the benefits of their forestry-related activities with local and Indigenous communities. Prior to joining the BCCLA she worked for many years as an advisor with the government of British Columbia, developing environmental and health policy and legislation. She has also provided legal services for the government of Ontario and interned as a legal analyst with the Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights in South Africa.

When she isn’t working, Meghan can usually be found gardening or exploring the city with her dogs. She loves current affairs, arts and culture and volunteers as an executive with the board of Island Mountain Arts, a unique gallery and school of the arts in the Cariboo.

Veronica (she/her) joined the BCCLA in 2019. Veronica was born and raised in Brantford, ON. She comes from a strong line of Kanyen’keha:ka (Mohawk) women and is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River. She is also of Lithuania, German, and British ancestry. Prior to becoming a lawyer, she spent almost a decade working on the frontlines as a victims’ rights advocate, court support worker, and courtroom clerk. She also served as a member of the Board of Directors overseeing Brantford’s Food Bank.

Veronica holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Victoria. During law school, she was the co-chair of the Indigenous Law Students Association, completed a co-op term with the Indigenous Law Research Unit, participated in ĆELÁṈENEȽ: A Field Course in the Re-emergence of W̱SÁNEĆ Law, and summered with the Crown Attorney’s Office and Legal Aid Ontario.

Veronica also holds a Master of Arts from the University of Guelph, and a Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University. Building on her BA, Veronica wanted to cultivate a better understanding of what she observed working within Canada’s criminal legal system. She focused her research on over-incarceration of Indigenous peoples, the effect of s. 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code, and the advent of specialized courts, specifically, Gladue and Indigenous courts. Veronica was able to apply this knowledge and her experience as a frontline worker in co-developing curriculum for Laurier’s Gladue Principles Program.

Veronica is passionate about protecting human rights, advancing human responsibility, and approaching her work with a good mind. She is particularly interested in challenging colonial ideology as it pertains to law and justice and to create space for Indigenous ways of knowing and being. In her spare time, Veronica enjoys being in the forest or by water, outlets for creative expression, karaoke, and spending cherished time with her family and friends.

Vibert Jack joined the BCCLA as Litigation Director in 2022. He completed an undergraduate degree in engineering at the University of British Columbia and following that worked briefly in the mining industry. Vibert decided to change paths in order to find a career that better aligned with his core values. He returned to UBC, this time to study law. Following that, he articled at a boutique criminal and administrative law firm. Vibert then joined Prisoners’ Legal Services, where he worked tirelessly to defend the civil liberties and human rights of incarcerated people, who are among the most marginalized and vulnerable populations in our Country. Vibert is committed to confronting injustice at every opportunity.

Outside of work Vibert enjoys playing soccer, football, and an especially lively game of chess.

Zoe (she/they) is a settler raised and currently living on the stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), Kwikwetlem, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. Zoe works hard to undo many of the colonial understandings she has internalized while living in a colonial state. This drives their desire to understand narrative and its intersections with power and oppression, particularly within the legal field. Zoe appreciates all the support she has received in her community that brought her along in her social understanding. Zoe received their BA from the University of British Columbia in History and Philosophy. In her spare time, Zoe loves to garden and take long walks.