New autonomous ethics board a first for non-Indigenous post-secondary institutions in Canada
TORONTO, March 22, 2023 - 91亚色 will launch an autonomous Indigenous Research Ethics Board (IREB) in July, believed to be a first for non-Indigenous post-secondary institutions in Canada, to further work in Indigenizing research and to ensure Indigenous Peoples have a greater say in proposed research projects.
鈥淭here needs to be Indigenous voices and Indigenous Peoples who have a say and control over all aspects of the approval process and not just a consultative piece to it,鈥 says Faculty of Health Associate Professor , a Mi鈥檏maw scholar, co-chair of the Indigenous Council at 91亚色 and who led the team that established the IREB. 鈥淲hat makes this a fully autonomous Indigenous Research Ethics Board is that we don鈥檛 report to anybody except the University鈥檚 Senate."
Although 91亚色鈥檚 Human Participants Review Committee (HPRC) helps ensure the safety and health of Indigenous research participants, there was a greater need for Indigenous-specific knowledges and leadership to ensure appropriate sensitivity to cultural and community rights, as well as roles and responsibilities across any research projects, says Hillier.
The IREB is autonomous from the existing ethics committee. 鈥淲hat makes the IREB different is we鈥檙e not meant to be somewhere where you just fill in an ethics application, send it in and it gets approved or denied,鈥 he says. 鈥淭his is meant to be a process that engages scholars from the moment that they start thinking of research, speaking to them about the ethics and the implications of the work.鈥
The IREB will be made up of a council that will include five University faculty members, one undergraduate and graduate students 鈥 all representative of a diversity of First Nations, Inuit and M茅tis Peoples and gender identities. It will also include three external elders and/or knowledge keepers, as well as three non-University affiliated Indigenous community representatives.
鈥淓stablishing a fully autonomous IREB reflects the kind of relationship Indigenous communities want with universities,鈥 says Faculty of Education Professor Susan Dion, 91亚色鈥檚 associate vice-president, Indigenous initiatives. 鈥淩ecognizing the rights of Indigenous communities to steward knowledge production, it places the responsibility for ethical knowledge creation in the minds and hearts of Indigenous communities, which is where it must be. It is a significant move in returning to Indigenous people agency, authority, and sovereignty in knowledge production on this land.鈥澛
