Insights ’25 conference explores business law through a human rights lens
A University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law professor is bringing a host of top international legal scholars to Winnipeg on November 14 for the inaugural Insights ’25 Canadian Forum for Business and Human Rights conference. Dr. Akinwumi Ogunranti, an assistant professor and business advisor for the Faculty of Law’s Marcel A. Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law, has collaborated with Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law Marine and Environmental Law Institute, and the University of Essex’s Human Rights Research and Education Centre to present “Corporate Accountability in Canada: At the Crossroads of Scholarship, Legislation, Litigation, Policy-making and Community Resistance.”
The Conference will take place at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights after a day-long workshop for scholars on Thursday, November 13, at Robson Hall, the Faculty of Law building on the University of Manitoba’s Fort Garry Campus. Dr. Ogunranti hopes the workshop and subsequent conference will serve to bring together legal scholars from across the globe to share ideas and collaborate on projects that could have impact for positive change in the way business is conducted and legislation and policy are created.
“This conference marks the end of the beginning of a timely and critical conversation about the role of Canadian businesses operating in Canada and abroad,” said Dr. Ogunranti. “It heralds the birth of a think-tank forum in Canada that is dedicated to mentoring young scholars, amplifying the voices of marginalized groups, and fostering collaboration among all stakeholders working in the business and human rights field.”
“Hosting the inaugural Insights ’25 Business and Human Rights Conference reflects our Faculty’s deep commitment to advancing legal scholarship that connects business practices with human rights principles,” said Dr. Richard Jochelson, Dean of the Faculty of Law. “Through the Desautels Centre and collaborations like this, we’re fostering a space where research, advocacy, and education converge to address some of the most pressing global challenges in law and commerce.”
The origins of the idea for a Canadian Forum for Business and Human Rights was born of a conversation between Dr. Laura Reimer, Director of Program Development for the Faculty of Law, and Dr. Nathan Derejko, Mauro Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice at UM. Reimer had attended a forum of Business and Human Rights in Geneva, and Derejko had recently come to UM from his role as Director of the Human Rights Centre Clinic at the University of Essex. When Ogunranti arrived with his specialization in Business and Human Rights, the CFBHR came together and the idea for a workshop and conference became a reality.
“The Desautels Business Law Accelerator is proud to have provided the seed money that established Canada’s only Canadian Forum for Business and Human Rights. Working collaboratively with four other leading scholars in the field and their institutions, Professor Akin Ogunranti and his excellent Research Assistant, Jovinel Evangelista have led the way for a national first in the establishment of this international conference,” said Dr. Laura Reimer, Director of Program Development for the Faculty of Law. “We are excited to welcome scholars and activists from all over the world to Winnipeg, and stand proudly with Dr Ogunranti and the founding partners of the CFBHR as we meet together (appropriately) at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.”
The conference begins with a Keynote address from Fernanda Hopenham, Vice-Chairperson of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and the Co-Executive Director at Project on Organizing, Development, Education and Research (PODER), Latin America. Plenary sessions and panels throughout the day will include topics including:
- Business and Human Rights in a time of transition: The effect of cross-border relationships
- Indigenous Rights, Gender, and Benefit Agreements
- The Role of Non-state Actors’ Advocacy in BHR: Prospects and Challenges
- Judicial Remedies: Civil and Criminal Liability | Transnational Corporate Accountability
- Non-Judicial Remedy
- Transparency Laws, Supply Chain, and Human Rights Due Diligence
- Rights of Nature Litigation as Business and Human Rights Litigation: The Lake Winnipeg Case and Prospects for Canada
- Climate Change, Sustainability, Corporate Governance, and National Security
- Canadian Extractive Industry: Colonialism, BHR Norms, and Investment Law
Panelists and presenters include law professors and legal practitioners from all across Canada and the United States, as well as the United Kingdom.
Dr. Ogunranti expressed deepest thanks to the conference’s generous supporters, including the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law, the University of Manitoba, the Desautels Centre, the Manitoba Law Foundation, the Law Commission of Canada, the Legal Research Institute, and Research Manitoba.