Edwin Charles Kimelman served as a judge of the

Provincial Court of Manitoba The Provincial Court of Manitoba () is the lower trial court of the Province of Manitoba. It has mainly a criminal jurisdiction, as well as limited concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of King's Bench in matters of family law that originate ...

(Canada) and authored a significant public report on

child protection Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...

for

aboriginal peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

Career

Judge Kimelman received his call to the Manitoba bar in 1950 and began his career as a lawyer with the firm of Kopstein, Kimelman & Kopstein. In May 1975 he was appointed as a part-time judge of the

. In July 1977 he was appointed a Senior Judge, and in November 1988 he was appointed Associate Chief Judge. He retired from the bench on July 1, 1999.

Accomplishments

Judge Kimelman was well known for his work regarding the welfare of Aboriginal and

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

children. In the early 1980s, the

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

government established a Review Committee on

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

and Métis Adoptions and Placements, which was headed by Judge Kimelman. The committee's 1985 final report, entitled ''No Quiet Place'' was "a detailed list of horrors - an exhaustive compilation which concluded that the damage to Indian children had been real, frequent and widespread." Widely known in

child welfare Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...

circles as the

Kimelman Report The Kimelman Report had a substantial and lasting impact on aboriginal child protection in Canada that was part of a fundamental shift in international child protection paradigms for aboriginal peoples. In the early 1980s, following the notorious ...

, it had profound impact on

aboriginal child protection Aboriginal child protection describes services designed specifically for protection of the children of "aboriginal" or indigenous peoples, particularly where they are a minority within a country. This may differ at international, national, lega ...

in Canada and perhaps elsewhere.

Community service

Judge Kimelman served on numerous community boards, including Jewish Child and Family Services, Sharon Home, Camp Massad,

B'nai Brith B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the sec ...

, the

United Way of Canada United Way Centraide Canada () is the national organization for the autonomous, volunteer-based United Ways and Centraides across Canada. The United Way Movement in Canada is a federated network of local United Way offices serving more than 5,000 ...

and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Judge Kimelman died on September 2, 2007.The Law Society of Manitoba Communiqué (January 2008, p. 10).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimelman, Edwin Judges in Manitoba Indigenous child displacement in Canada 2007 deaths Year of birth missing