Members of the Official Language Rights Expert Panel

The Official Language Rights Expert Panel is composed of the following members:

• Stéphanie Chouinard
• Ibrahima Diallo
• Pearl Eliadis
• Linton S. Garner
• Richard Goulet
• Denis Perreaux
• Myra Shuster

Biographies

Stéphanie Chouinard

Stéphanie Chouinard is an associate professor of political science at the Royal Military College of Canada and Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. She holds a PhD in Political Studies from the University of Ottawa and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Faculty of Law at the University of Montreal. Her research focuses on federalism, the relationship between law and politics, and the rights of linguistic minorities and Indigenous peoples. Her work has been published in scholarly journals such as Ethnopolitics, the Language Law Review, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, the International Journal of Canadian Studies, and Francophonies d'Amérique. She is also a political columnist for Acadie Nouvelle and L'actualité. She was named one of the ten influential figures in Canadian Francophonie by the Association de la presse francophone in 2020.

Ibrahima Diallo

Originally from Senegal, Ibrahima Diallo is a full professor at the Université de Saint-Boniface, where he has been teaching since 1985. From 2000 to 2010, he was Dean of the Faculties of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, and Social Work.

Professor Diallo has distinguished himself through his commitment to the francophone community, notably as President of the boards of the Société de la francophonie manitobaine (2006-2011), the National Table for Community Consultation on Francophone Immigration of the Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities (FCFA, 2014-2015), the Manitoba Immigration Council (2008-2011), and the Amicale de la francophonie multiculturelle du Manitoba (1998). Since 2022, he has been a member of the FCFA Board of Directors. Professor Diallo has also been a member of several expert groups, particularly regarding the modernization of official languages (2021) and Statistics Canada’s Advisory Committee of the Postcensal Survey on Official Language Minorities (2020-2022). He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Ordre des Francophones d’Amérique (2009), as well as the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (2022) and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) for his services to the community and the country.

Pearl Eliadis

Pearl Eliadis is a senior lawyer and a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Barreau du Québec where she serves on the Expert Group on Human Rights. Her law practice focuses on human rights, national institutions, minority rights and democratic governance. Her clients include multilateral international organizations, human rights commissions and tribunals, and civil society organizations. Pearl is Associate Professor (Professional) at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University and lectures at the Faculty of Law where she is a full member of McGill’s Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism.

Pearl has worked to secure the rights of Francophone minorities while she was in the public service in Ontario and the rights of Anglophone minorities in Québec. She is deeply engaged with civil society organizations on a wide range of issues and has received the 2017 "Changemaker" award from Equitas, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Government of Canada, the Canada 125 Commemorative Medal (Governor General of Canada) and the Award for Excellence in Human Rights from the Atlantic Human Rights Centre (St. Thomas University, 2024). She has published widely on human rights and public policy, and her 2014 book, Speaking Out on Human Rights, won the Huguenot Society of Canada Award for Freedom of Expression (Ontario Historical Society). Pearl is a graduate of McGill University and the University of Oxford

Linton S. Garner

Linton Garner is a consultant, community leader and policy advisor. A longtime resident of Québec, he has over six decades of experience in community development, education, and public policy. He has held senior roles in government and non-profit sectors, advising on race relations, minority rights, and intercultural affairs. Linton has authored key reports for federal and provincial governments and served on major public commissions.

Linton has also led and co-founded several Black community organizations, served as a school board commissioner, and continues to support youth as a basketball coach and advocate. Linton currently serves on the Québec Regional Access Committee and the federal Cross-cultural Roundtable on Public Security.

Richard Goulet

Richard Goulet is a graduate of the Faculty of Law (French Common Law Program) of the University of Ottawa and earned a Master of Laws (International Development Law and Human Rights) from the University of Warwick. His expertise in language rights was developed through his work as a Legal Analyst (1996 to 2000) and then Director of Language Rights (2000 to 2006) at the Court Challenges Program.

Since 2007, he has held several positions at Manitoba Hydro, including corporate secretary, and has negotiated project development agreements and implemented partnerships with five First Nations. Recently, he has coached University of Manitoba law student teams participating in the Bastarache Moot on Language Rights (2018 to 2024).

Denis Perreaux

Denis Perreaux is the Executive Director of the Société historique francophone de l'Alberta (SHFA) and provincial advisor on Franco-Albertan history and heritage. A historian by training, he has been working for more than twenty years at the intersection of memory vitality, public policy and community development. He has worked for the federal government and the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, which he led from 2008 to 2014. Since then, he has led the SHFA, which he helped build as a leader in Franco-Albertan heritage.

A researcher and popularizer, Denis is the author of conferences and publications on the history of Francophones in the Prairies, including an article co-authored in Francophonies d'Amérique. He is a Certified Archivist and Research Associate at the CRCCF of the University of Ottawa. Established in Edmonton since 1991, he combines memory vitality, strategic analysis and community engagement to promote an inclusive and solidly rooted western Francophonie.

Myra Shuster

Myra Shuster is a lawyer and mediator with 35 years’ experience in the Refugee Protection Division and the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Over the course of her career in both divisions, she developed expertise in legal proceedings involving the application of national and international human rights instruments. She is the recipient of three Immigration and Refugee Board awards: the Governor's Award for the Haiti Post-earthquake Special Project, the Chairperson’s Award for Innovation, and the Award for Excellence in professionalism and contribution to the service of the Immigration Appeal Division.

She holds a law degree from the University of Ottawa, as well as certifications in the application and interpretation of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, and in Mediation and Conflict resolution from the University of Windsor. She was a guest presenter at the International Cultic Studies Association Annual Conference and at the Quebec Writers' Federation.

She is a freelance writer and the author of Lost Promises, a memoir exploring the circumstances of her sister’s death in a religious cult.