Welcome and Land Acknowledgement (9:00 – 9:15)
Teresa Sheward — Program Lawyer, CLEBC, Vancouver
Tumia Knott, spaləl̕ — First Peoples Law LLP, Vancouver
Dr. Bruce McIvor — First Peoples Law LLP, Vancouver
Challenges and Opportunities for Economic Development and Collaborative Agreements (9:15 – 10:30)
Observations on Negotiating Financial Aspects of Benefits Agreements in the Resource Sector in BC and Alberta
Steve Graham, PEng, PGeo, CSAP, PhD — S. Graham Engineering and Geology Inc., Tsawwassen
Secured Financing in the First Nation's Context
- LPs, LLPs, and tax implications
Drew Mildon — Woodward & Co. Lawyers LLP, Victoria & Whitehorse
Government to Government Agreements
- reconciliation, government to government agreements, and collaboration pursuant to s. 6-7 of DRIPA
Saul B. Joseph — Clark Wilson LLP, Vancouver
BREAK (10:30 – 10:50)
Implementing Indigenous Jurisdiction (10:50 – 11:50)
UNDRIP, DRIPA, and Implementation Issues
Tamara Napoleon — Miller Titerle Law Corporation, Vancouver
The Bill C-92 Reference: Indigenous Jurisdiction at the Supreme Court
- the implications of the Quebec Court of Appeal decision and upcoming appeal at the Supreme Court in relation to the recognition and implementation of Indigenous Peoples' inherent law-making authority and the development of Aboriginal rights jurisprudence under s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982
Kate Gunn — First Peoples Law LLP, Vancouver
Questions & Discussion (11:50 – 12:00)
LUNCH with Featured Speaker (12:00 – 1:30)
Truth, Art, and Reconciliation (12:45-1:15)
Daniel R. Elliott — Artist, Cultural Worker, and Counselor, Stz'uminus First Nation, Nanaimo
Current Issues in Aboriginal Title Litigation (1:30 – 2:30)
The Admissibility of Oral History Evidence
- recent Cowichan Tribes et al. v. Canada (Attorney General) decision wherein Musqueam successfully defended an application seeking a ruling that their witnesses' oral history evidence was largely inadmissible
Aaron Wilson — Mandell Pinder LLP, Vancouver
Some Radical Predictions About Future Aboriginal Title Litigation
- future cases might not take forever, or cost a fortune
- evidence from community members may not always be necessary
- anthropological evidence might be less helpful than it seems
- the Indian Act may be more helpful than it seems
- DRIPA and UNDRIP may be no help
Jack Woodward, KC — Barrister and Solicitor, Campbell River
BREAK (2:30 – 2:45)
Legal Decolonizing Initiatives (2:45 – 3:25)
Indigenous Mediation and Negotiation Centre
Chrystie Stewart — Stewart & Springford LLP, Kamloops
The Role(s) of Law Reform in implementing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act
Introducing BCLI as BC's independent law reform body: our strengths, methods, and outputs
- how both legal frameworks and approaches to law reform are impacted by the Declaration Act
Some ways we're starting to meet this moment
- establishing the Reconciling Crown Legal Frameworks Program
- opening to Indigenous law in active projects: parentage, substitute decision-making in healthcare, local government public hearings
- drafting informational Reconciliation Primers
Further progress, further questions
- deepening public and practitioner familiarity with working in legally plural contexts
- how legal pluralism is shaping our own methods and outputs
Karen Campbell — Executive Director, BC Law Institute & Canadian Centre for Elder Law, UBC, Vancouver
Decolonizing the Legal Profession (3:25 – 4:00)
The Need for Indigenous Benchers: The Complicated History of Indigenous People and the Law Society
Christina J. Cook — Insurance Lawyer, Vancouver
How the JD/JID Program Can (Re)Shape the Legal Landscape: Recent Graduates from the UVIC Joint Degree Program
- how my legal education taught me to think about law as a pluriverse
- what my legal education taught me about ethics and professional conduct
- un-othering the Indigenous in the legal landscape
Carolyn Belleau — Articling Clinician, Everyone Legal Clinic, Williams Lake
Kelty McKerracher — Law Clerk, Vancouver
Cody O'Neil — Articled Student, First Peoples Law LLP, Vancouver
BREAK (4:00 – 4:15)
Modern Land Claims—Promise and Reality (4:15 – 4:55)
The Deline Got'ine Experience: Lessons Learned and Current Challenges
Ɂekw’ahtı̨dǝ́ (Chief) Danny Gaudet — Délın̨e K’aowedo Ke, Délı̨nę Got’ı̨nę Government, Délı̨nę, NT
Ɂekw’ahtı̨ Raymond Taneton — Délın̨e K’aowedo Ke, Délı̨nę Got’ı̨nę Government, Délı̨nę, NT
K'ahsho Got'ine Self-Government Negotiations
- the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement
- barriers to progress in our self-government negotiations and other rights issues
- amendments to create consistency with evolving federal policy and UNDRIP
- our proposed path forward
Daniel T'seleie — Chief Negotiator, K'ahsho Got’ı̨nę, Fort Good Hope, NT
Closing Comments (4:55 – 5:00)