This text is part of the special Philanthropy section
The largest individual donation in the history of the UQAM Foundation was made by lawyer Paul D. Leblanc: he gave no less than $ 1.8 million to create scholarships for Indigenous students in law. This is a shocking illustration of the growing interest of donors in supporting First Nations members.
“I’m very interested in history and, when you read it, you can see that the fate of the First Nations has been affected by our presence, most of the time negatively,” explains Paul D. Leblanc. I said to myself that these societies must know how to defend themselves both against external forces and, unfortunately, also against internal problems or violence. It became clear to me that, if the rising generations could train themselves in law, it could ensure these two defenses. “
In 2019, this Oxford University graduate in England learned that UQAM’s Faculty of Political Science and Law had started a movement in this direction by creating a scholarship for indigenous students. Seduced by the idea of giving money to a still very young university which is not already wealthy like others, he created the Honorable Albert-Leblanc scholarships, named in honor of his father who was judge of the Superior Court of Quebec.
“My father’s career has been marked by a deep sense of history: it is an area that interested him the most, and he was very sensitive to the importance of social education from the 1940s. , while he was involved in the Popular Bloc, ”says the lawyer.
Worth $ 30,000 each spread over three years, the two scholarships awarded each year are intended for First Nations or Inuit students from Quebec who wish to do a bachelor’s degree in law. They were presented for the first time this year.
“In addition to UQAM, which works hard to promote these scholarships, I think that the elders and the chiefs of the First Nations in Quebec should get involved to talk about the interest of this kind of studies and to help to find the best candidates, affirms Paul D. Leblanc. There needs to be collaboration between the First Nations and the university. “
Train indigenous journalists
Paul D. Leblanc is not the only one showing an interest in supporting Aboriginal people. “In recent months, while we have heard a lot about Indigenous issues in the media in particular, we have seen that donors are more interested in supporting projects related to First Nations,” says Catherine Proulx, director of philanthropic development at the Foundation. from UQAM.
She notes in particular that several companies have added to their donation policies the importance of supporting initiatives related to diversity and inclusion.
For example, the Reader’s Digest Foundation donated $ 10,000 this year to fund one of UQAM’s two Aontaiontenrohwe scholarships for First Nations, Inuit or Métis people who wish to study journalism. The other scholarship is offered by the Faculty of Communication.
“Patrick White, the professor in charge of the journalism program, is very interested in Indigenous issues, he told me about the idea of creating scholarships for First Nations students, and I found the idea extraordinary, so we went ahead, ”says Gaby Hsab, dean of the Faculty of Communication at UQAM.
Radio-Canada has also agreed to offer internships to those who obtain the scholarships.
“We announced the scholarship late this year, but we were still able to deliver one,” says Hsab. Ideally, we would like to be able to give two per year and to achieve this, we will be doing a lot of presentations in CEGEPs that are close to Aboriginal communities. “
The big goal behind these efforts is to increase the number of indigenous journalists. “We want to improve their presence in the mainstream media, but we also want to help the development of local journalism in their communities,” says Mr. Hsab. It is also for this reason that Patrick White is working to develop a summer school in journalism that would take place in Aboriginal communities. We really want to make a difference. “