President & Executive

Sylvie McCallum Rougerie has been counsel with the federal Department of Justice since 2014. She joined the Yukon office of the Department of Justice in 2019, where she practices civil litigation. From 2014 to 2019, she worked in the Human Rights Law Section of the Department of Justice in Ottawa, where her practice focused primarily on international human rights law and ss. 7-15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Sylvie holds a J.D. degree from the University of Toronto and an LL.M. in Advanced Studies in European and International Human Rights Law from Leiden University. Her graduate work was awarded the 2017 Thoolen NJCM-Dissertation Prize by the Dutch Section of the International Commission of Jurists, which led to the publication of her thesis under the title “Police Failures to Combat Sexual Assault: Lessons from International and Regional Human Rights Law for Improving Accountability under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms”. Sylvie is on the editorial board of the Philippe Kirsch Global Justice Journal and is the vice-president of the Yukon Branch of the Canadian Bar Association (CBAY).

Gavin Gardiner is a lawyer in the Whitehorse office of Woodward & Company LLP and is currently called as a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Law Society of Yukon.  Gavin has served as a Judicial Law Clerk to two Justices of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia and assisted on cases heard by the Yukon Court of Appeal. For nearly a decade prior to attending law school at the University of Ottawa, Gavin served the Carcross/Tagish First Nation in many roles, including Legislation/Policy Analyst, Implementation and Negotiation Official and Senior Government Official (Executive Director). He holds Bachelor of Arts (double honours) in Literature and Political Studies from the University of Saskatchewan and a certificate in Conflict Resolution and Negotiation from the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

I am a Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Citizen, a member of the Crow clan and life long Yukoner. I have a significant disability of written communication and  am passionate about supporting both Indigenous and disabled people in the legal profession. In 2008 I obtained a BA in History and Political Science from UBC. Prior to law school I worked for Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in in Treaty implementation with our Right Honourable Past President. I preformed in the 2010 Vancouver Opening Ceremonies. In 2014 I completed my Law Degree at University of Victoria. I had the great fortune to intern with the Maori Land Court and Waitangi Tribunal in New Zealand. Following my call to the bar in 2016, I practiced for 2 years sole practitioner in criminal defence. I then worked for Yukon Government for a year. I am currently a sole practitioner. I am also member of the Judicial Council of the Territorial Court, the Yukon Human Rights Panel of Adjudicators and the Yukon Water Board. Outside of work, I enjoy walking a lot most often listening to a Science Fiction or history audiobook and dancing with the Han Singers. I have a passion for good peanut-free food and all thing nerdy.