Alycia Lameboy-Dixon – Brian Fraser Recent Graduate 2023

General Arts and Sciences: English for Academic Purposes, 2016
General Arts and Sciences: Justice Studies, 2018
Law Clerk, 2019

Alycia Lameboy-Dixon is a Cree woman from Chisasibi, a remote community of roughly 7,000 people in the Eeyou Istchee territory. A personal responsibility to give back to her community was instilled in Lameboy-Dixon early on as culture and family played a significant role in her upbringing. She knew she wanted to pursue a career which would allow her to give back to her community.

This desire pushed her to take a big leap and leave her small hometown to complete the General Arts and Sciences – English for Academic Purposes (EAP) certificate at Algonquin College. Interested in justice and knowing that legal services were limited in her community, Lameboy-Dixon wanted to provide important legal support to individuals who may otherwise go without. This pushed her to continue her studies and complete the General Arts and Sciences: Justice Studies program in 2018 and the two-year Law Clerk diploma program in 2019, both also at Algonquin College.

Lameboy-Dixon credits much of her success to her college education which afforded her the opportunity to test the waters, try new things and develop a solid foundation for a successful and impactful career in the justice sector. As a native Cree and French speaker Lameboy-Dixon came to Algonquin College with very limited English language skills. Now trilingual, Lameboy-Dixon is able to communicate effectively with all members of the justice system to ensure the needs of her community are met, including the over 18,000 people who call the Eeyou Istchee territory home.

Upon completion of her Law Clerk diploma at Algonquin College, Lameboy-Dixon began a prestigious role at Gowling WLG law firm in their advisory department supporting and advising on Indigenous case files. Lameboy-Dixon’s personal experience combined with her skillset made her an invaluable asset to her team. Fluent in Cree as a mother tongue, Lameboy-Dixon was able to communicate and understand the needs of clients in a way that others on her team could not. During her time at Gowling WLG, she had a hand in 500 case files.

At Gowling WLG, Lameboy-Dixon worked on the Federal Indian Day School class action lawsuit where she helped individuals fill out their lawsuit applications and transcribe their stories to ensure they were properly compensated according to their claim. In total, she helped over 500 claimants receive between $10,000 to $200,000 in settlements.

Today, Lameboy-Dixon has returned to her community where she works as a justice project officer for the Department of Justice and Correctional Services at the Cree Nation Government, managing criminal and by-law case files for nine communities in the Eeyou Istchee territory. She acts as a liaison during court terms, provides penal action recommendations to judges, answers general inquiries from individuals who are in need of a lawyer or have law-related questions, assists with legal aid applications upon the request of the Legal Aid Office and helps lawyers with community by-law research.

For those facing summary offences, Lameboy-Dixon works with the Justice Committee in the offender’s community to assess community-based approaches for rehabilitation as an alternative to sentencing. Her work helps ensure the sentencing of Indigenous offenders aligns with their crimes and considers the important role community and culture play in offender rehabilitation and reintegration. As Indigenous people are greatly overrepresented among Canada’s in-custody offender population, her work helps to lower incarceration rates among Indigenous people while also reducing the rate of reoffence.

To date, Lameboy-Dixon has completed two Gladue reports, which contain important information on the unique circumstances of an Indigenous person accused of an offence. The court considers these reports and the recommendations within them when sentencing. In her short time as Justice Project Officer, Lameboy-Dixon has had two successful recommendations in her Gladue report heard and upheld in court.

Lameboy-Dixon’s coworkers, colleagues and mentors would describe her as a passionate advocate for public justice. She is open, understanding and professional, often spending many hours investigating an individual’s case and conducting multiple rounds of one-on-one interviews to understand their history. Many clients have personally thanked her for her compassion, dedication and empathy. Lameboy-Dixon strongly believes in creating a justice system that reduces harm and reoffence by promoting community and culture.