Current Problems:
Exploring Theme: "Court Cases"
Updates on this page: 24
(Filtered by Stakeholder "British Columbia")
May 1, 2024
When your duty to protect the land clashes with settler laws
By Sidney Coles | Opinion | May 1st 2024 Rainbow Eyes in traditional headwear at Fairy Creek. Photo by Glenn Reid Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: OPINION – In British Columbia, Indigenous Peoples are expected to move seamlessly between two worlds and two sets of laws — sacred law and colonial law. When these are in conflict, they are asked...
April 24, 2024
Green deputy leader sentenced to 60 days for Fairy Creek old-growth protests
Angela Davidson, also known as Rainbow Eyes, was convicted in January of seven counts of criminal contempt for breaching a court injunction and later her bail conditions. Photo by Glenn Reid Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: The Canadian Press– OTTAWA — The Green Party is decrying a 60-day sentence handed to its deputy leader today...
March 13, 2024
B.C. judge warns of ‘tsunami’ of Indigenous identity fraud cases
Baptist pastor charged with possessing child pornography claimed Métis status based on great-great-grandparent WARNING: This story contains details of child sexual exploitation and pornography. CBC News: After he was charged with possessing child pornography, Nathan Allen Joseph Legault discovered a figure from his past he hoped might help with his future. The Prince Rupert, B.C., man...
February 28, 2024
First Nations praise ruling ‘forcing’ Crown to protect interests
Chief says partial win at top court could change dynamic in relationship with resource industries CBC Indigenous: For decades, Stellat’en Chief Robert Michell says his First Nation has been caught in a loop of frustration when demanding change to deal with problems caused by the Kenney Dam. The company which operates both the dam and an associated reservoir...
February 21, 2024
Wet’suwet’en Law Cannot ‘Coexist’ with BC Court Order, Judge Determines
Chief Dsta’hyl has been found guilty of criminal contempt. The Tyee: The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that a traditional Wet’suwet’en trespass law cannot “coexist” with the injunction order issued to Coastal GasLink in response to pipeline protests from the nation’s hereditary leadership. As a result, Chief Dsta’hyl, a Wing Chief of the Likhts’amisyu Clan of...
January 27, 2024
Judge overturns landmark $150K human rights award for mother who claimed discrimination
Decision says human rights tribunal asked wrong questions and erred in law in landmark decision CBC Indigenous: A B.C. Supreme Court judge has overturned a landmark human rights tribunal decision awarding $150,000 to a mother who claimed she was discriminated against by Canada’s longest-serving Indigenous child-care agency. In the original decision, tribunal member Devyn Cousineau found the Vancouver...
January 5, 2024
First Nation appeals court decision
B.C. Supreme Court ruling could transform the mining claims system in Canada Fly camp with Lindquist Peak in the distance on the Deer Horn property, 120 kilometres south of Smithers, B.C. Courtesy of Tony Fogarassy First People’s Law Report: CIM Magazine – Leaders of the Gitxaała Nation applauded a British Columbia Supreme Court ruling that...
December 17, 2023
Ktunaxa First Nation responds to lawsuit
(Adobe stock photo) First Peoples Law Report: Last month Ktunaxa First Nation responded to Taranis Resources Inc’s lawsuit regarding the Thor copper project near Trout Lake in Ktunaxa’s traditional territory northeast of Nakusp. “The best way for British Columbia to ensure Ktunaxa rights are protected is to receive our free prior and informed consent, which,...
December 9, 2023
U.S. Indigenous group in Canada competes for territorial claims against Canadian Indigenous nations
NATHAN VANDERKLIPPEINTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT NELSON, B.C. FOR SUBSCRIBERS The Globe and Mail: PUBLISHED YESTERDAY UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO A U.S. Indigenous group has established a formal presence in British Columbia and is pushing for government recognition and funding, two years after a Canadian Supreme Court ruling declared it “an Aboriginal people of Canada.” The office of the Sinixt...
December 1, 2023
Divesting the RCMP of Abuse Investigations in Indigenous Communities
The BC First Nations Justice Council testified about culturally appropriate policing alternatives at a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal hearing. Amanda Follett Hosgood 1 Dec 2023The Tyee Amanda Follett Hosgood is The Tyee’s northern B.C. reporter. She lives in Wet’suwet’en territory. Find her on Twitter @amandajfollett. The Tyee: The BC First Nations Justice Council says it has already...
November 30, 2023
Woman arrested during Wet’suwet’en pipeline blockade found not guilty
Sabina Dennis was acquitted on 1 charge of criminal contempt in B.C. Supreme Court Jackie McKay · CBC News · Posted: Nov 29, 2023 10:08 PM EST | Last Updated: November 30 CBC Indigenous: Posted: Nov 29, 2023 10:08 PM EST | Last Updated: November 30 B.C.’s Supreme Court has ruled that a person charged with contempt of court...
November 27, 2023
‘This justice system is failing our people’: Report meant to help Indigenous people in court often causes harm
In response to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project (also known as TMX), elders of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation in B.C. asked Will George to “warrior up” and defend their land and waterways. “It was quite the honour to be recognized … to be selected from the community to do this very important work for our...
November 20, 2023
BC Granted ‘Limited’ Status in Human Rights Inquiry
The province says it was only alerted by the RCMP to the ongoing hearings in July. The Tyee: B.C.’s attorney general has been denied full party status in an ongoing Canadian Human Rights Tribunal inquiry into the RCMP’s handling of historical abuse allegations at northern B.C. schools. Instead, the tribunal granted the province “limited interested person status,”...
November 10, 2023
Indigenous mom’s discrimination payout hangs in the balance at B.C. Supreme Court
Child welfare agency tells court that tribunal ‘exceeded its jurisdiction’ in landmark ruling, which found VACFSS social workers relied on racist stereotypes Content warning: This story deals with child apprehension and discrimination against an Indigenous mother. Please look after your spirit and read with care. First Peoples Law Report: An Afro-Indigenous mother sat quietly in...
November 8, 2023
Disagreement among Treaty 8 nations create more uncertainty for B.C. natural gas industry
Blueberry River First Nation Chief Judy Desjarlais at signing ceremony for the Blueberry River Implementation Agreement in January. | BC Government First Peoples Law Report: BIV – Business Intelligence for BC: A legal challenge by Treaty 8 First Nations to an agreement the B.C. government struck with the Blueberry River First Nation is adding to...
October 20, 2023
‘He ruined so many lives’: Victim speaks out over release of social worker
Robert Riley Saunders was a social worker with the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Facebook. APTN News: A victim of social worker Robert Riley Saunders is speaking out after the man who was sentenced to prison for stealing money from Indigenous youth was released on parole. “The reality is that he ruined so many...
October 18, 2023
B.C. imprisons people we should listen to
Swaysən Will George outside the courthouse in Vancouver. Photo by Donna Clark Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: Swaysən Will George’s name in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ means, “When he speaks, they listen.” The B.C. Supreme Court did not seem to be listening well to Tsleil-Waututh member Will George when they sentenced him to 28 days in jail for upholding his sacred responsibility...
August 14, 2023
Judge ‘erred’ in conviction of Elder after TMX pipe ceremony, higher court rules
Charges have been dropped against watch house guardian Jim Leyden after the B.C. Appeal Court set aside Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick’s ruling IndigiNews: A B.C. Supreme Court judge made an error when she convicted an Elder after he held a pipe ceremony outside of a Trans Mountain terminal, according to a ruling from the province’s highest...
August 6, 2023
Whose Sovereignty? A BC Court Decision Exposes Holes in Colonial Logic
The Nuchatlaht sought to claim title to traditional territory. A ruling dealt a blow to coastal First Nations. The Tyee: First Peoples Law Report – In June, the B.C. Supreme Court issued its decision in The Nuchatlaht v. British Columbia. The court held that the Nuchatlaht failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish their claim to Aboriginal...
July 27, 2023
RECONCILIATION AND ABORIGINAL TITLE: CASE COMMENT ON THE NUCHATLAHT V BRITISH COLUMBIA
By Kate Gunn and Nico McKay Last month, the BC Supreme Court issued its decision in The Nuchatlaht v British Columbia. The Court held that the Nuchatlaht failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish their claim to Aboriginal title on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The decision represents a setback both for the Nuchatlaht and for the...
March 17, 2023
Gitxsan family wins full custody over child in controversial case
Child’s maternal Gitxsan family fought courts for custody, and paternal family over Métis claims There were hugs and cheers in a packed Hazelton courthouse on Thursday as a B.C. judge granted permanent custody to the family of a Gitxsan child whose fate has been up in the air until now. “I was so relieved it’s all...
February 10, 2023
A First Nation Sued BC. Then Came a Gas Drilling Frenzy
Now that the Blueberry River First Nations have won a historic agreement, they face thousands of wells greenlit by the regulator. NationTalk: The Tyee: When the Blueberry River First Nations took the provincial government to court in March 2015, arguing that cumulative industrial developments had robbed them of their ability to hunt and fish, oil...
March 17, 2022
Class Action Lawsuit for government use of Birth Alerts to apprehend Indigenous babies
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs – Earlier this week, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Winnipeg against the province of Manitoba regarding the controversial and discriminatory practice of Birth Alerts. The basis for the claim is that Birth Alerts are unconstitutional and are a Human Rights violation. “The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) has been a...
July 2, 2020
Supreme Court: Trans Mountain Pipeline appeal
BIV – Business in Vancouver – The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear an appeal of the federal government’s approval of the $12.6 billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which is already under construction. The Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish First Nations and Coldwater Indian Band had appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada to hear...