Government-to-Government Agreements & Implementation 2021

Course Chairs
Deborah L. Curran — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies, Executive Director, Environmental Law Centre, University of Victoria, Victoria
Terri-Lynn gid7ahl-gudsllaay lalaxaaygans Williams-Davidson — White Raven Law Corporation|XUUYA GAADA KILYAHDA, Surrey

About the Course Chairs
Deborah Curran is an Associate Professor at the University of Victoria in the Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies (Faculty of Social Sciences), and the Executive Director of the Environmental Law Centre where she works with students on environmental law projects for community organizations and First Nations across BC. Deborah's work is in the areas of land and water law, with a particular focus on environmental protection and collaborative management in water law, municipal sustainability, which include healthy foodscapes, and how Indigenous law is shaping colonial law. Deborah also teaches a national field course in Environmental Law and Sustainability from the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre with the support of the Huu-ay-aht First Nation.

A citizen of the Haida Nation and also its General Counsel, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson has practiced in the area of Aboriginal-environmental law since she was called to the BC bar in 1996. She holds two degrees from UBC: Bachelor of Laws, 1995; and Bachelor of Science (Computer Science), 1990, and is currently pursuing a Master of Laws.

Since 1995 she has represented the Haida Nation at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada in litigation to protect the old-growth forests of Haida Gwaii, the Haida Nation's TFL39 Case, the leading case on consultation and accommodation of Aboriginal Rights. She is also counsel for the Haida Nation's Aboriginal title case (launched in 2002), as well as the related reconciliation negotiations—which have resulted in innovative interim agreements with BC and Canada—and other litigation such as that challenging the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project.

Terri-Lynn has published widely and lectures internationally in Aboriginal law. In the past, she served as founding Executive Director of the national charity EAGLE (Environmental-Aboriginal Guardianship through Law and Education), as an Advisory Council member for the Vancouver Foundation's Environment Program, as a juror for the Ecotrust (US) Buffet Award for Indigenous Leadership, on the board of Ecotrust Canada and Earthlife Canada Foundation (Gowgaia Institute). Terri-Lynn is currently a board member of the Haida Gwaii Singers Society and an Honourary Director of the national environmental charity Ecojustice. In 2014, she received West Coast Environmental Law Peoples' Choice Andrew Thompson Award for environmental advocacy.

Planning Committee
Elizabeth Bulbrook — White Raven Law Corporation|XUUYA GAADA KILYAHDA, Surrey
Nigel Grenier — White Raven Law Corporation|XUUYA GAADA KILYAHDA, Surrey

Faculty
Jason Gaagwiis Alsop — President, Haida Nation, Haida Gwaii
Becky Black — Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
Kelly Brown — Director, Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department, Heiltsuk First Nation, Bella Bella
Brenda Gaertner — Mandell Pinder LLP, Vancouver
Ernie Nang Kaa Klaagangs Gladstone — Field Unit Superintendent, Gwaii Haanas,
Parks Canada, Skidegate
Nigel Grenier — White Raven Law Corporation|XUUYA GAADA KILYAHDA, Surrey
Geraldine Hutchings — Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
Tara Marsden — Wilp Sustainability Director, Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, Kitwanga
Tom McCarthy — Division Chief Negotiator, Ministry of Indigenous Relations & Reconciliation, Victoria
David Ranson — Executive Director, BC Parks Provincial Services Branch, Ministry of Environment, Victoria
Roger Ritsema — Acting Regional Negotiator, Skeena, Ministry of Indigenous Relations & Reconciliation, Smithers
Jeff Sheldrake — Executive Director, Regional Operations – Coast Region, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Victoria
Chief Gagvi Marilyn Slett — Chair of Coastal First Nations, Chief Councillor, Heiltsuk First Nation, Bella Bella
Kelly Speck — Elected Councillor, 'Namgis First Nation, Alert Bay
Derek Thompson — Former Chair, Haida Gwaii Management Council, Haida Nation, Victoria

Course Materials Author
Trevor Ginn wadluu un uula isdlaa ayaagang Russ — Vice President, Haida Nation, Haida Gwaii

Click here for full faculty bios

Welcome and Land Acknowledgement (9:00 – 9:10)

Deborah L. Curran — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies, Executive Director, Environmental Law Centre, University of Victoria, Victoria
Terri-Lynn gid7ahl-gudsllaay lalaxaaygans Williams-Davidson — White Raven Law Corporation|XUUYA GAADA KILYAHDA, Surrey

Haida Gwaii (9:10 – 10:10)

Moderator: Terri-Lynn gid7ahl-gudsllaay lalaxaaygans Williams-Davidson — White Raven Law Corporation|XUUYA GAADA KILYAHDA, Surrey

Introduction and overview: examining the interim joint exercise of jurisdiction on Haida Gwaii

Terri-Lynn gid7ahl-gudsllaay lalaxaaygans Williams-Davidson — White Raven Law Corporation|XUUYA GAADA KILYAHDA, Surrey

Collaborative management with Canada: Gwaii Haanas Haida Heritage Site and National Park Reserve Archipelago Management Board: history and overview

• • marine spatial planning
  • successes and challenges

Jason Gaagwiis Alsop — President, Haida Nation, Haida Gwaii
Ernie Nang Kaa Klaagangs Gladstone — Field Unit Superintendent, Gwaii Haanas, Parks Canada Field Unit Office, Skidegate

BREAK (10:10 – 10:25)

Haida Gwaii (10:25 – 11:25)

Moderator: Terri-Lynn gid7ahl-gudsllaay lalaxaaygans Williams-Davidson — White Raven Law Corporation|XUUYA GAADA KILYAHDA, Surrey

Collaborative management with BC
Haida Gwaii Management Council: structure and accomplishments

• • solutions table: process and challenges
  • marine spatial planning

Derek Thompson — Former Chair, Haida Gwaii Management Council, Haida Nation, Victoria

BREAK (11:25 – 11:40)

Provincial Perspective: BC's Approach to Government-to-Government Agreements (11:40 – 11:55)

Becky Black — Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
Tom McCarthy — Division Chief Negotiator, Ministry of Indigenous Relations & Reconciliation, Victoria

LUNCH (11:55 – 12:25)

Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs (12:25 – 1:15)

Moderator: Nigel Grenier — White Raven Law Corporation|XUUYA GAADA KILYAHDA, Surrey

• introduction and overview
• the land use plan as establishing ecosystem-based standards for activities in Gitanyow territory
• land use plan implementation
  • ecological standards
  • shaping forestry
• questions & discussion

Tara Marsden — Wilp Sustainability Director, Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, Kitwanga
Roger Ritsema — Acting Regional Negotiator, Skeena, Ministry of Indigenous Relations & Reconciliation, Smithers

BREAK (1:15 – 1:30)

Great Bear Rainforest (1:30 – 2:45)

Moderator: Deborah L. Curran — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies, Executive Director, Environmental Law Centre, University of Victoria, Victoria

• how the Nations' governance vision is transformed into ecological standards and funding for a conservation economy
• introduction and overview

Chief Gagvi Marilyn Slett — Chair of Coastal First Nations, Chief Councillor, Heiltsuk First Nation, Bella Bella
Kelly Brown — Director, Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department, Heiltsuk First Nation, Bella Bella

• new and developing forms of protected areas

David Ranson — Executive Director, BC Parks Provincial Services Branch, Ministry of Environment, Victoria

• forestry elements of the GBR agreements

Jeff Sheldrake — Executive Director, Regional Operations – Coast Region, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Victoria

Questions & Discussion

BREAK (2:45 – 3:00)

The Broughton Archipelago (3:00 – 4:00)

Moderator: Deborah L. Curran — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies, Executive Director, Environmental Law Centre, University of Victoria, Victoria

Broughton Archipelago consensus recommendations for fish farms

Brenda Gaertner — Mandell Pinder LLP, Vancouver
Geraldine Hutchings — Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
Kelly Speck — Elected Councillor, 'Namgis First Nation, Alert Bay

BREAK (4:00 – 4:15)

Discussion: Breakout Groups (4:15 – 4:45)
Participants join breakout groups to discuss case studies with presenters

• Haida Gwaii

Moderator: Terri-Lynn gid7ahl-gudsllaay lalaxaaygans Williams-Davidson — White Raven Law Corporation|XUUYA GAADA KILYAHDA, Surrey

• Great Bear Rainforest

Moderator: Deborah L. Curran — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies, Executive Director, Environmental Law Centre, University of Victoria, Victoria