Day 1: Art & Film Showcase (Feb 26)

Organized by the Environmental Law Club, this opening event features an art and film showcase and dialogue that engages with land, law, and relationship through creative expression.

Day 2: Main Conference (Feb 27)

The main conference day includes four interdisciplinary panels on current and emerging issues in public interest environmental law.

[Panel 1] Watershed Law and Place-Based Governance: Indigenous Authority and Collaborative Water Stewardship

[Panel 2] Law, Fire and Renewal: Rethinking Law Through Indigenous Fire Stewardship

This panel examines Indigenous-led fire stewardship and its role in wildfire prevention, mitigation, and response. Drawing on lived experience and Indigenous knowledge systems, speakers analyze the principles and contemporary relevance of Indigenous fire management, as well as the opportunities and structural barriers to implementing Indigenous-led fire practices in British Columbia. The conversation highlights how colonial legal frameworks have inhibited, constrained, or overlooked Indigenous fire stewardship, even as these practices strengthen Indigenous self-governance and sustain cultural and land-based traditions. Panellists also assess how wildfire legislation and emergency management policies have shaped—and often limited—the transmission and practice of Indigenous fire knowledge, with significant implications for community resilience and governance.

[Keynote] UNDRIP, DRIPA, and the Gitxaała Decision:  Interpreting BC Laws in a Transforming Legal Landscape

Speakers: Lisa Fong, KC and Ruben Tillman, Ng Ariss Fong

The BC Court of Appeal’s landmark ruling in Gitxaała Nation v. British Columbia confirmed that courts can assess whether provincial laws conflict with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)—a significant departure from previous lower‑court decisions. In response, the Province has announced forthcoming amendments to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) and has sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, asking for clarity on UNDRIP’s legal force in statutory interpretation. In this keynote, Lisa Fong, KC, and Ruben Tillman, counsel for the Gitxaała Nation at the Court of Appeal, will provide their insights on the decision’s implications, the Province’s next steps, and how the Supreme Court of Canada may shape the future of Aboriginal law should it agree to hear the appeal.

[Panel 3] Lawyering in Intercultural Contexts: Indigenous-Settler Lawyer-Client Approaches

Lawyering in intercultural contexts, including for Indigenous Nations, requires special skills and aptitudes of both Indigenous and non‑Indigenous lawyers. Reflecting on their identities and decades of personal and professional experience, panelists will share insights from their lawyer-client relationships in the colonial context of BC. The conversation will explore common challenges in Law Society-prompted lawyer conduct, environmental work, including how conservation, policy, or litigation can unintentionally reproduce colonial or recolonizing practices. This session offers guidance for aligning environmental work—legal and non‑legal—with responsibility and humility to healthy socio-ecosystems and Indigenous authority, without placing the burden of education or justification on Indigenous clients.

[Panel 4] Reflections on the Cowichan Decision: Legal and Governance Implications of a Landmark Aboriginal Title Ruling

In one of the most significant Aboriginal title decisions, the BC Supreme Court recognized Cowichan Aboriginal title to lands at Tl’uqtinus on the south arm of the Fraser River and affirmed an Aboriginal right to fish for food in those waters. Woodward & Company lawyers Ava Murphy and Julian Riddell will highlight the decision’s core findings, including Aboriginal title to village and submerged lands and the limits of provincial and municipal land title systems. Robert Morales (Tl’ul’thut)—a Coast Salish leader, Cowichan Tribes member, and longtime negotiator for many First Nations—will discuss the broader implications for Indigenous law, stewardship, and emerging approaches to environmental governance in British Columbia. Together, the panel will consider what this decision signals for reconciliation, sustainable development, and the future of environmental protection in the province.