Year: 2018

Fort McKay First Nation sues Alberta government, says oilsands project threatens sacred site

The Canadian Press, December 11, 2018: An Alberta First Nation is suing the province over development approvals that the band says threaten sacred land the government has promised to protect. “We will not stand idly by and let the area be destroyed,” Jim Boucher, chief of the Fort McKay First Nation, said in a release. […]

Fort McKay First Nation files for an injunction to save Moose Lake from industrial development

On December 3, 2018 Jack Woodward commenced an action on behalf of Fort McKay First Nation for an injunction to save Moose Lake from industrial development.[1] The case is expected to prevent Alberta from authorizing underground mining of bitumen (through either SAGD[2], or an experimental microwave process[3]) in the last remaining part of Fort McKay’s […]

2018 Native Law Publisher’s Notes: Release 5

You can read the Publisher’s Notes for releases 2018-1 to 2018-5 here.

  • Aboriginal Law in Canada Updates

Dzawada’enuxw First Nation held a series of information sessions for its members

From November 24th to 28th, the Dzawada’enuxw First Nation held a series of information sessions for its members located across Vancouver Island and on the mainland. Traditional Chief Willie Moon explained the Nation’s history with the fish farms, and how the decision to launch the title claim and judicial review came about. Lawyer Ethan Krindle was present […]

  • Public Speaking

Indigenous Forests Discussion Roundtable in Nanaimo hosted by the Sierra Club of BC

E.J. Woodward Law Corporation lawyer, Ethan Krindle, gave a presentation  on active and potential title, rights and the current legal landscape.

  • Public Speaking

Ian Waddell’s Take The Torch: A Polictical Memoir is published

The full history of Jack’s involvement with preparing the first draft of what would eventually become s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, is set out in Ian Waddell’s polictical memoir “Take the Torch”.  Here’s a Vancouver Sun interview of Ian Waddell speaking about “Take The Torch: A Political Memoir”.

2018 Native Law Publisher’s Notes: Release 4

You can read the Publisher’s Notes for releases 2018-1 to 2018-5 here.

  • Aboriginal Law in Canada Updates

The death of Trans Mountain pipeline signals future of Indigenous rights: Chiefs

The Narwhal, August 30, 2018: As a federal court quashes the controversial project, lawyers and Indigenous leaders agree it’s more clear than ever that Canada must modernize its view of Aboriginal rights. As Grand Chief Stewart Phillip prepared for the Federal Court of Appeal decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion Thursday morning his expectations were […]

CBC Radio Interview: Federal Court of Appeal quashes Trans Mountain pipeline project

August 30, 2018 – Jack was on air for the full hour on CBC’s BC Today with Angela Sterritt commenting on the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision to stop the Trans Mountain pipeline project.

  • Interviews

First Nation files judicial review of provincial salmon farm tenure extensions

North Island Gazette, July 24, 2018: The Dzawada’enuxw First Nation (DFN) from Kingcome Inlet, B.C. has filed a petition for a judicial review in the BC Supreme Court challenging the provincial government’s decision to allow recently expired tenures for salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago region to continue to operate on a month-to-month basis. “In […]

2018 Native Law Publisher’s Note: Release 3

You can read the Publisher’s Notes for releases 2018-1 to 2018-5 here.  

  • Aboriginal Law in Canada Updates

Support the Dzawada’enuxw First Nation Wild Salmon Defence Fund

Go to GoFundMe.com/salmondefence to support the Dzawada’enuxw First Nation (DFN) as they head to court to defend wild salmon from the impacts of foreign-owned factory fish farms. With your help, they can get the job done for all British Columbians who value our wild salmon resources and tourism economy.

CBC News: Dzawada’enuxw First Nation to push for removal of fish farms

June 20, 2018: The province announced Wednesday that starting in 2022, fish farms will need First Nations approval to renew their tenures. That’s not soon enough as far as the Dzawada̱ʼenux̱w First Nation is concerned. Many First Nations in the Broughton Archipelago region, where the Dzawada̱ʼenux̱w are located, have long opposed fish farms, saying their presence has a negative […]

CBC News: Dzawada’enuxw First Nation seeks injunction to stop renewal of fish farm licences

June 19, 2018: The Dzawada̱ʼenux̱w First Nation is turning to the courts to try and stop the operation of open-net fish farms in the waters in the Broughton Archipelago off the coast of British Columbia. On Tuesday morning the nation, located in the Kingcome Inlet area of the Central Coast, filed an application for an […]

CBC News: B.C. First Nation files title claim to challenge fish farms in traditional territory

June 5, 2018: The Dzawada’enuxw First Nation is taking legal action to stop the operation of open-pen fish farms on its traditional territory. The First Nation, based in the South Coast community of Kingcome Inlet, B.C., filed a claim of Aboriginal title in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday for the land and waters in and around the Broughton […]

Undercurrent News: Aboriginal title claim filed over salmon farms in Canadian court

June 4, 2018: The Dzawada’enuxw, a First Nation group in British Columbia, Canada, has filed a claim of aboriginal title in the province’s Supreme Court charging that 10 salmon farms operating in their traditional territory are doing so without their consent, reports the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, a Canadian news service […] To read more […]

APTN National News: B.C. First Nation files Aboriginal title claim challenging fish farms in their territory

June 2, 2018: The Dzawada’enuxw First Nation of Kingcome Inlet filed a claim of Aboriginal title in British Columbia’s Supreme Court that affects ten fish farms in their traditional territory that they say are operating without their consent. “We have been saying no for 30 years,” says Lindsey Mae Willie of Dzawada’enuxw First Nation. “We have always said […]

Radio interviews on CBC’s Early Edition and Daybreak North in regards to the Trans Mountain Expansion

Jack’s interview with Stephen Quinn on the Early Edition for May 30, 2018 appears at the 51:23 minute mark and his interview with Carolina de Ryk on Daybreak North for May 30, 2018 appears at the 1 hour 23:17 minute mark. Please take a moment to listen.  

  • Interviews
  • Public Speaking

B.C. First Nation launches first ever case to extend Aboriginal title to ocean

The Narwhal May 29, 2018: A First Nation embroiled in a fight against salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago is taking the battle to a new level by filing a claim of Aboriginal title in B.C. Supreme Court. The Dzawada’enuxw First Nation, whose main reserve is Kingcome Inlet, is claiming that tenures granted by the province […]

Aboriginal title claim threatens renewal of BC salmon farm tenures

The Common Sense Canadian, May 28, 2018: A First Nation’s claim of Aboriginal title, filed today at the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver, threatens the future of some open net pen Atlantic salmon farms. Lawyer Jack Woodward, who filed the claim on behalf of the Dzawada’enuxw First Nation of Kingcome Inlet, warned the NDP government it […]