Commissioners

Commissioners are appointed by an Executive Order of Executive Council. Their responsibilities are described within the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act. They include responsibility for the strategic direction of the Commission as well as for making decisions on human rights issues including referrals of complaints to Boards of Inquiry. 

Commission Meetings

Commissioners meet six times annually. Often these meetings take place at the Halifax office of the Commission. However, Commissioners meet in a community outside of the Halifax Regional Municipality at least twice a year.

Current Commissioners

Shawna Paris, Chair

Shawna Paris, Halifax, is a distinguished lawyer, social worker, educator, and public servant whose career spans more than 30 years in law, social justice and community service. A member of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and a licensed private practice social worker, she is recognized for her compassionate, interdisciplinary approach that bridges law, mental health, social justice and human rights.

Ms. Paris has appeared at all levels of courts and tribunals in Nova Scotia.  She appeared at the Supreme Court of Canada, where she successfully argued R. v. L.T.H. (2008), a landmark case advancing the rights of youth. She has also served as legal counsel for Be The Peace Institute, at the Mass Casualty Commission of Nova Scotia Public Inquiry, and was a member of the governing council for the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children Restorative Inquiry—both pivotal processes in truth, justice, and reconciliation.  She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Africville Heritage Trust. 

Deeply committed to public service, equity and inclusion, she has adjudicated matters under the Residential Tenancies Act, the Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act, and served on the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Task Force on Employment Equity for Visible Minorities in the Federal Public Service. 

As Chair of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, Ms. Paris brings a principled, community-rooted, and forward-looking vision centred on equity, dignity, and justice for all Nova Scotians.

Jenifer Tsang, Vice-chair

Jenifer Tsang, Halifax, has a degree in Land Use Planning which is a multidisciplinary profession that seeks to improve the quality of life for people and communities in an efficient manner with respect for the natural environment.  She has extensive experience in public outreach and consultation as both a public servant and a private consultant.  Her planning work ranges from balancing the rights and needs of indigenous farmers with development pressures in the State of Hawaii to volunteering for an Acadian community in Cape Breton.   She recognizes the importance of writing policies and laws to be inclusive and having them be interpreted and administered fairly.  She has volunteered with the Atlantic Conference of Independent Schools (ACIS), Big Brothers Big Sisters and has a background in martial arts.  Jenifer is also the author of a book that she wrote to help parents of children who are suffering from depression.  Having grown up in both the United States and Canada, Jenifer became a Canadian citizen on Human Rights Day in 1994.

Monica Paris

Monica Paris, Halifax, has been an Information Technology Systems Analyst with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) since 1998. She was a member and co-chair of the CRA Employment Equity and Diversity committee for twelve years and has been on the Board of Directors and a Union Steward with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada since 2009. Ms. Paris was first appointed as a Commissioner on November 1, 2019.

Robin Thompson

Robin Thompson is Cree Métis from Treaty 1 Territory and a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation. Robin holds a business diploma, an Advanced major in Social and Criminal Justice from St. Francis Xavier University and a Juris Doctor from the Schulich School of law. She is a practicing member of the Nova Scotia Barrister Society. In 2015 she was one of the ten participants chosen world-wide for the Indigenous Fellow Progamme with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights in Geneva Switzerland. Robin has 20 years of senior management experience developing governance capacity within Indigenous communities and is a strong advocate for First Nation self-determination. Robin is currently the Governance Manager for the Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq.  Robin also serves on the non profit board of the Centre for First Nations Governance and a Gladue writer with the Mi'kmaq Legal Support Network.

Blair Eavis

Blair Eavis, Halifax, has a Juris Doctor in Law and has worked as a naval reserve officer with the Department of National Defence for almost twenty years where he instructs officers in the areas of international law of the sea, naval operations, intelligence, and performs operational planning. He is on the Board of Directors of the Cobequid Cultural Society and the Sackville Rivers Association. He was a caseworker with student legal assistance at the University of Calgary for three years.

Natasha Pearl

Natasha Pearl, Halifax, has worked as a legal assistant with Patterson Law and the Nova Scotia Legal Aid Commission where she coordinated and scheduled appeals, collaborated with African Nova Scotian and Indigenous social workers to provide support for clients, and administered and facilitated after-hours counselling. She is currently working at Nova Scotia Legal Aid’s Appeals Office, serving as a legal assistant for Criminal and Family appeals.

John Boddie

John Boddie , Halifax, is a seasoned legal professional and dedicated community volunteer with more than 17 years of combined legal and adjudicative experience. He holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of Wales and a diploma in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. He is currently pursuing a part-time master’s degree in international relations and War Studies at King’s College London, and has completed a certificate in Adjudication for Agencies, Boards, and Commissions from Osgoode Hall Law School (Toronto) and fulfilled his National Committee on Accreditation requirements at Dalhousie University. His academic and practice interests span Administrative Law, Health Law, Human Rights Law, and International Humanitarian Law.

Mr. Boddie’s adjudicative experience includes serving as a Legal Board Member for the Nova Scotia Motor Vehicle Appeals Board from 2018 to 2021, and for the past 15 years, as a legal member of the Nova Scotia Involuntary Psychiatric Review Board. He also currently chairs the Halifax Regional Municipality Taxi Licensing Committee.

In addition to his professional roles, Mr. Boddie is actively involved in volunteer work serving as a Board Member on the Saint Mary’s University Research Ethics Board and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society Finance Committee. He previously chaired the Military Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Boddie further demonstrated his commitment to community service by volunteering with the Nova Scotia Health Authority's pop-up COVID testing clinics and is a lifelong patron of the Museum of Wales.

Dr. Muhammad Naeem Khan

Dr. Muhammad Naeem Khan is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University and a Pediatric Neuroradiologist at the IWK Health Centre. With over 25 years of experience in healthcare, Dr. Khan has held several leadership positions within the Nova Scotia Health Authority, IWK Health Centre, and Dalhousie University.

Dr. Khan has called Nova Scotia home since 2001, where he and his family have been deeply rooted in the community. He raised his three children in the province and remains actively engaged not only in Halifax but also in the Annapolis Valley. There, he runs a successful farm producing high-quality grapes and apples—contributing to the local economy and supporting rural communities.

Beyond his professional and agricultural pursuits, Dr. Khan is a generous donor of both time and resources for the public good. He is a firm believer in human dignity and social justice, and is a passionate advocate for accountability, accessibility, equity, and inclusion. He upholds the principle that every member of society is entitled to the same basic human rights.

Quy Linh

Quy Linh is a lawyer with experience in criminal, civil and corporate litigation and served on the boards of the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia and the Vietnamese Association of Nova Scotia.