Human Rights and Equity Conference 2024
This year's human rights and equity (HRE) conference takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at the Sheraton Guildford Hotel in Surrey – the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Katzie, Kwantlen, and Semiahmoo First Nations peoples.
The application period for this year’s conference is now closed.
This one-day, in-person conference, On Being Included: Reflecting on the Past, Imagining the Future, is an invitation for us to consider what it means to be included – in our union and our workplaces – and to consider the histories, systems and processes that continue to function as mechanisms of exclusion.
In 2025, BCNU will commemorate two decades of a sustained commitment to expanding the circle of inclusion – an initiative that began with the establishment of the multicultural caucus in 2005. In the ensuing years, the commitment to inclusion has grown in significance and scope – but much remains to be done.
Join your colleagues as we reflect on our past accomplishments and begin the task of imagining a more just and equitably inclusive future.
Guest speaker
Elder Roberta Price has actively shared her leadership, wisdom, and teachings for nearly four decades, assisting both Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members in achieving improved outcomes in health care. A member of the Coast Salish Snuneymuxw and Cowichan Nations, Elder Roberta has been instrumental in helping to create shared spaces for both Indigenous and Western approaches to healing and health. Her wise and compassionate leadership has helped lay the foundations for the ongoing work of decolonizing health care and creating cultural safety and equity for Indigenous peoples.
Reflecting on the Past - Social Justice and Solidarity
Guest speakers
Debra McPherson, BCNU's longest-serving president, held office from 1990 to 1994 and again from 2001 to 2014. A registered nurse since 1972, McPherson was an active member of her Vancouver regional executive. She attended BCNU’s inaugural convention in 1981, a foundational moment that marked the start of her dedication to advancing members' interests. Her dedication to learning and professional growth among BCNU members was further recognized in 2023, when the Member Education Bursary was renamed the Debra McPherson Member Education Bursary in her honour.
Mabel Tung served as BCNU's provincial treasurer from 2006 until her retirement in 2016. After completing her nursing training in Hong Kong, Tung immigrated to Canada in 1979 and began her career at Vancouver General Hospital in 1981. Passionate about inclusivity and representation, she was instrumental in establishing BCNU's Multicultural Group and Indigenous Leadership Circle in 2005, as well as the Human Rights and Diversity Committee in 2007. Tung’s vision and dedication were also essential in the creation of BCNU's human rights and equity caucuses, which continue to foster a more inclusive environment for all members.
Making equity matter for class politics
The recent attention to equity as a part of the struggle for equality is to be welcomed. But for it to be a positive influence, it has to be made consistent with the needs and interests of working people, not the aspirations of elites. In this talk, attendees will examine how matters of identity and social domination interact with class organizing and class domination.
Guest speaker
Vivek Chibber is a sociology professor at New York University and the editor of Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy. He has authored several books, including Confronting Capitalism: How the World Works and How to Change It (Verso: 2022), The Class Matrix: Social Theory after the Cultural Turn (Harvard: 2022), and Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital (Verso: 2013).
Ethical Loneliness: Why is it sometimes so hard to be heard, and to hear others well?
Because we’re human, the danger of miscommunication is built into our attempts at good communication. Using the lens of “ethical loneliness”—a term referring to the double harm of being unjustly treated and then not properly heard when you testify to what happened— Dr. Stauffer will explore the complexities of why we fail to hear one another.
In this insightful session, Dr. Stauffer will provide examples of both profound injustices and everyday occurrences that highlight these challenges. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on their own experiences—moments when they haven’t been truly heard and instances when they may have missed the opportunity to hear others. Together, they will brainstorm actionable strategies to overcome these barriers, fostering productive engagement and mutual understanding across differences, with a vision to create more inclusive and connected communities.
Guest speaker
Dr. Jill Stauffer is an associate professor and director of the Peace, Justice, and Human Rights concentration at Haverford College, where she also leads a restorative practices program. She authored Ethical Loneliness: The Injustice of Not Being Heard and co-edited Nietzsche and Levinas: After the Death of a Certain God. Stauffer serves on the editorial board of Voice of Witness, an oral history series amplifying voices of those affected by human rights crises. She is currently working on a book titled Temporal Privilege, exploring the relationship between time and law.
Workplace discrimination among regulated nurses in BC
Guest speaker
Dzifa Dordunoo PhD, RN is an associate professor at the University of Victoria’s School of Nursing with 20 years of nursing experience. Her research focuses on improving health services, with recent projects on medical device reactions and racism as a health predictor. She holds degrees from the University of Victoria, Duke University, and the University of Maryland. Dr. Dordunoo was the founding president of the Coalition of African, Caribbean and Black Nurses in British Columbia and serves on the boards of the Pan-Canadian Nurses of African Descent and the Sickle Cell Association of Canada.
A reading and writing session with local author Jen Currin
Guest speaker
Jen Currin teaches creative writing and English at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Their short story collection, Hider/Seeker, won a Canadian Independent Book Award, was a ReLit finalist, and was named a Globe and Mail Best Book of 2018. Currin has published five poetry collections, including Trinity Street (2023); The Inquisition Yours (2010), which won the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry and was a finalist for the LAMBDA, Dorothy Livesay Prize, and ReLit Award; and School (2014), a finalist for the Pat Lowther Award, Dorothy Livesay Prize, and ReLit Award. Their new story collection, Disembark, was released in May 2024.