On January 24, 2018, Tsawout First Nation filed a Notice of Civil Claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia seeking the return of their ancient village site of ȽEL¸TOS (James Island), a 400-acre property just off the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island, BC. The...
Tsawout First Nation making headlines: files claim for return of James Island
Case Brief: Gamlaxyeltxw v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests, Lands & Natural Resource Operations), 2018 BCSC 440
Aboriginal Rights in Conflict: First in Time, First in Right? Gamlaxyeltxw v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests, Lands & Natural Resource Operations), 2018 BCSC 440 In Gamlaxyeltxw, Justice Sharma of the British Columbia Supreme Court addressed the novel issue...
Decolonizing the Indian Act
DGW Law’s Christopher Devlin discusses the issues with an outdated Indian Act. The Act was created with a mindset that no longer applies and is no longer valid. Christopher was interviewed and is quoted in an article published online in the National.
Case Brief: Taseko Mines v Canada (Environment), 2017 FC 1099; Taseko Mines v Canada (Environment), 2017 FC 1100
CASE BRIEF Taseko Mines v Canada (Environment), 2017 FC 1099; Taseko Mines v Canada (Environment), 2017 FC 1100 On December 5, 2017, the Federal Court dismissed two applications for judicial review brought by Taseko Mines Limited (“Taseko”), which sought review of a...
The Right to Withhold Consent in Tsilhqot’in Nation
The concept of Aboriginal title has been known to exist under Canadian law since 1973, yet it took over 40 years for the first declaration of Aboriginal title to be made by the Supreme Court of Canada in Tsilhqot’in Nation v British Columbia. This historic decision...
Case Brief: Ktunaxa Nation v. British Columbia (Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations), 2017 SCC 54
CASE BRIEF: Ktunaxa Nation v. British Columbia (Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations), 2017 SCC 54 On November 2, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal of the Ktunaxa Nation’s claim that the province’s decision to approve the Jumbo Glacier...
Federal Court Decision a “huge win” for NSMA!
The Federal Court of Canada held today that the North Slave Métis Alliance (NSMA) was not adequately consulted by Canada respecting the Northwest Territory Métis Nation Land and Resources Agreement-in-Principle signed July 31, 2015 (NWTMN AiP). The Federal Court held...