Our illustrious and industrious Ruben Tillman will be speaking about the current state of UNDRIP in Canadian law at three different events in the next three weeks:
- October 23 – PBLI Developments in Aboriginal and Indigenous Law 2024. Ruben will unpack the Gitxaala case and discuss the upcoming appeal (register here).
- November 6 – CBA Alberta aboriginal law section. Ruben will address the current cases interpreting UNDRIP under the BC and Federal Declaration Acts.
- November 7 – RAVEN UNDRIP webinar. Ruben (and Lisa) will discuss the state of the implementation of UNDRIP in Canadian law, the current sites of legal dispute, and the possibilities that UNDRIP presents to reconcile Indigenous laws and Canadian laws.
The implementation of UNDRIP into Canadian laws is a grand reconciliation project that started with the bringing into force of the BC ‘s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and Canada’s United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Since that time, various statutes, most notably the BC Interpretation Act, have been amended to require consistency or integration with UNDRIP. The challenge now lies in how to interpret and apply the provisions of these Acts in relation to UNDRIP’s articles. Nations, governments, and industry are in the courts grappling with how to or not to give effect to UNDRIP’s articles, which represent a baseline of the human rights of Indigenous peoples of the world. Legal questions with significant consequences are being raised including what is the role of the courts, does UNDRIP apply to the common law (or just statutory law), and do legal burdens shift if UNDRIPs’ articles are to be taken seriously?
Come listen to Ruben and bring your lunch money to the Raven webinar as it’s a fundraiser!