Overview
There was a great deal of interest in the section this year. We had the largest executive in a number of years, filling all executive positions plus 6 members-at-large. We have another strong executive for next year.
Attendance was strong at all section meetings this year with our largest turnout at the early January meeting when the Honourable Stephen Owen MP spoke on the Federal Government’s initiatives for First Nations.
The section did not send a representative to the National Aboriginal Law Section meeting in Halifax this year. Instead, the section co-ordinated with the Vancouver Island Aboriginal Law Section which sent a delegate. There were informal discussions as between the section chairs of alternating attendance at these meetings between the two sections.
Summary of Activities
The section was quite active again this year holding meetings almost every month. A summary of the meetings and the speakers is as follows:
Sep 2002
Consultation and Accommodation after Haida No 2
Guest Speakers
Greg McDade QC, Counsel for the Intervener Squamish Nation
Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson, Project Director with EAGLE
Anne Giardini, Weyerhausser General Counsel
Nov 2002
Use and Admission of Oral History Evidence
Guest Speaker
Stuart Rush QC
Dec 2002
Annual Section Christmas Party
Hosted by:
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Blake Cassels
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Boughton Peterson
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Fasken Martineau
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Ratcliff and Company
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Singleton Urquart
Jan 2003
Federal Government’s Initiatives Regarding First Nations
Guest Speaker
The Honourable Stephen Owen MP
Feb 2003
The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Wewaykum Indian Band v Canada
Guest Speakers
C Allan Donovan, Counsel for the Cape Mudge Indian Band
Mitchell Taylor & Kim Kobayashi, Counsel for Canada
Patrick G Foy QC, Counsel for British Columbia (Intervener)
Peter R A Grant, Counsel for the Gitanmaax, Kispiox
Glen Vowell, Indian Bands (Intervener)
Apr 2003
Municipal Serving Agreements for Reserve Lands: The Tsawwassen First Nation v Delta, Case in Practice
Guest Speakers
Lewis Harvey, General Counsel, Musqueam First Nation and Counsel for Tsawwassen First Nation in the Delta Case
William Buholzer, Lidstone Young Anderson
May 2003
The proposed First Nations Governance Act
Guest Speaker
Jim Aldridge QC
Jun 2003
Comparative Developments in Aboriginal Law: United States, Australia and New Zealand
Guest Speaker
Jim Reynolds
2003/2004 Executive
The 2003/2004 Executive for the Aboriginal Law Section Vancouver was selected at the June 2003 meeting. The new executive is as follows:
Co-Chair, Matthew Kirchner
Co-Chair, Mai Rempel
Legislative Liason, Lynn Roberts
Secretary/Treasurer, Kevin O’Callaghan
Member-at-Large, Merrill Shepard
Member-at-Large, Joel Camley
Member-at-Large, Jonathan Monk
Member-at-Large, Martin Sennott
Member-at-Large, Marvin Stark
Member-at-Large, Roy Millen
Member-at-Large, Craig Cameron