The Spark Series: Truth Before Reconciliation

The Fasken Spark Series brings notable guests to share their experiences and explore ideas around equity, diversity, and inclusion in the legal industry and beyond.

As part of Fasken’s continuing efforts towards reconciliation and to mark Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we invite you to join us on Thursday, September 28, for a Spark Series event, Truth Before Reconciliation, featuring Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award-winning journalist and podcaster, Connie Walker.

In this keynote session, Connie will share stories from her life and career, as an investigative journalist and podcaster, to help us understand the Indigenous perspectives of our shared history. She explores how the power of storytelling is essential to help create space for empathy and understanding. At the centre of Connie’s work is the idea that we must understand the truth in order to commit to reconciliation.

This session will help you:

• expand your knowledge of Indigenous experiences,
• understand why truth must come before reconciliation, and
• learn how we can collectively move forward with a shared understanding of our past.

Connie Walker is a member of the Okanese First Nation in Saskatchewan.

Connie spent nearly two decades as a reporter and host for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) where she created and led CBC’s Indigenous Unit. In 2016 Connie launched the podcast Missing & Murdered. The gripping series revealed the systemic issues at the root of the violence facing Indigenous women and girls

As one of the most comprehensive investigations into a single residential school, Connie’s podcast Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s exposed the devastating impacts of intergenerational trauma stemming from Indian Residential Schools. In 2022, it was awarded a Dupont-Columbia Award and an IDA Documentary Award. The series was named one of the best podcasts of the year by The New Yorker, The Atlantic and Esquire. Connie and the podcast team won a 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism, in the Audio Reporting category.

Please note that the session will be held in English. Live French translation will be available.