Commissioner James Igloliorte

James Igloliorte of Hopedale, Newfoundland and Labrador is a retired Provincial Court Judge. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Education from Memorial University, Newfoundland in 1974. He and his wife, Linda Carter, then started their career as teachers on the west coast of Newfoundland at St. James School in Lark Harbour, Bay of Islands. Mr. Igloliorte has lived in Newfoundland and Labrador his whole life.

Appointed first as a Lay Magistrate in 1980, he took responsibility of the Labrador Court and Circuit System and then completed law school at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1985. He then returned to take up duties in Happy Valley-Goose Bay as a circuit judge, a position which he held for the majority of his career. James Igloliorte was a 1999 National Aboriginal Achievement Award recipient in the category of Law and Justice. He stepped down from the bench in 2004.

James Igloliorte is a past Labrador Director with the Innu Healing Foundation and was a commissioner with the Royal Commission on Renewing and Strengthening Our Place in Canada. He has also worked as Newfoundland and Labrador’s Child and Youth Advocate and was Commissioner of the Qikiqtani Truth Commission in Nunavut. In 2003 he received an Honourary Doctorate from Memorial University of Newfoundland, made all the more memorable because it was the same week in which singer-songwriter Ron Hynes was also recognized. He presently sits as a Board Member of the McLean Day School Settlement Corporation and is a Reconciliation Officer of the Sixties Scoop Settlement Agreement.

James Igloliorte and his wife, Linda Carter, live in St. John’s and have four children and five grandchildren.

Geoffrey E. Budden

Commission Counsel

Mr. Geoffrey E. Budden was admitted to the bar of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1989, having obtained his Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1988. He practices law with Budden and Associates in St. John’s. The primary focus of his practice has been in the areas of civil litigation and public interest law.

Mr. Budden’s role with the Inquiry will be to assist Commissioner Igloliorte in such matters as he shall direct including, but not limited to, ensuring that all matters that bear on the public interest are brought to his attention.

 

Louise Bradley

BN, MS, CHE, C.M.

Extensive experience and leadership in a wide range of mental health settings, tertiary care, forensic psychiatry and corrections.  Louise recently retired from her role as President and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, having served for over ten years.  In this capacity, she led the creation of Canada’s first Mental Health Strategy having consulted with thousands of Canadians across the country.  Louise also led the signature Opening Minds anti-stigma initiative, oversaw ground-breaking research on homelessness and suicide prevention and throughout her entire career devoted attention to workplace culture ultimately resulting in the creation of the world’s first Psychological Safety Standard for the Workplace.  This was all achieved with including the voices of those with lived experience, the importance of which she espouses to this day and continues to endorse and work in the interests of mental wellness and safety for all.

Louise’s work in mental health and her transformational leadership has been recognized by a number of institutions; the Canadian Psychological Association in receiving their Humanitarian Award:  Innovation Award for Health Care Leadership from the Canadian College of Health Leaders; the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal; honorary degrees from Saint Mary’s University, the University of Alberta and Mount Saint Vincent.  In July 2019, she was invested as a member of the Order of Canada.