Summary: Building Community and Advancing Justice
In February, the ELC and the Environmental Law Club co-hosted the BC Public Interest Environmental Law Conference: Law Rooted in Land and Relationships in the new Indigenous Laws Wing at the UVic Faculty of Law. The gathering renewed a tradition of bringing together students, legal practitioners, scholars, artists and community members to engage with emerging issues in public interest environmental law.
The conference opened with a creative Art & Film Showcase organized by Environmental Law Club students. The second day featured a series of interdisciplinary discussions exploring watershed governance, Indigenous fire stewardship, intercultural lawyering, and recent developments in Aboriginal title law. The event was anchored by a keynote addressing the legal significance of UNDRIP, BC’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), and the landmark Gitxaala v British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner), 2025 BCCA 430 decision.
Beyond individual panels, the conference created meaningful opportunities for mentorship, collaboration, and shared learning. By bringing together students, practitioners, scholars, and community members, it strengthened a growing network committed to advancing environmental justice across the province.
Ultimately, the conference underscored a powerful theme: that law, when rooted in land, relationships, and responsibility, has the potential to support more just and sustainable futures.
PANEL SUMMARIES
PANEL 1
Watershed Law and Place-Based Governance: Indigenous Authority and Collaborative Water Stewardship
Moderated by Eric Higgs (University of Victoria), this panel brought together Deborah Curran (ELC, Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies UVic) and Tessa Terbasket (Okanagan Nation Alliance) to highlight how Indigenous Nations are leading transformative approaches to land and water stewardship.
Rooted in long-standing relationships with ecosystems, Indigenous laws are reconnecting fragmented landscapes and restoring ecological balance.
Examples ranged from syilx-led efforts to return salmon through habitat restoration and river connection, to Nation-developed water policies and long-term stewardships plans spanning generations. Together, their insights demonstrated how Indigenous authority is reshaping governance, emphasizing cumulative impacts and collaborative decision making. These efforts reflect a broader movement toward shared stewardship that benefits both ecosystems and communities.
PANEL 2
Law, Fire, and Renewal: Rethinking Law Through Indigenous Fire Stewardship
Also moderated by Eric Higgs, this panel featured Russell Myers Ross (Gathering Voices Society) and Jocelyn Stacey (Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC), who explored how Indigenous fire stewardship offers critical knowledge in responding to escalating wildfire crises.
Russell Myers Ross shared firsthand experiences of cultural burning, grounded in learning from Elders, reading the land, and adapting through practice. He spoke to the ways provincial permitting regimes can leave practitioners feeling criminalized for carrying out personal responsibilities tied to governance, food sovereignty, and cultural connection.
Jocelyn Stacey examined how wildfire legislation and emergency management frameworks have historically suppressed Indigenous fire practices. She highlighted that despite barriers—such as provisions in the Wildfire Act—there is a strong constitutional basis for recognizing Indigenous rights to burn, and pointed to emerging collaborative models, including agreements with the Tsilhqot’in Nation.
Together, the panel emphasized the need for legal systems that support, rather than restrict, Indigenous-led fire stewardship and renewal.
KEYNOTE
UNDRIP, DRIPA, and the Gitxaała Decision: Interpreting BC Laws in a Transforming Legal Landscape
Introduced by Patricia Weber (ELC), Lisa Fong, KC, and Ruben Tillman (Ng Ariss Fong), counsel for the Gitxaała Nation at the Court of Appeal, delivered the keynote.
Their presentation explored the implications of the BC Court of Appeal’s landmark Gitxaala decision, which confirmed that courts can assess whether provincial laws are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). This marks a significant shift, reinforcing UNDRIP as a tool for statutory interpretation and elevating its role in Canadian law.
The speakers discussed how the decision engages with principles such as free, prior, and informed consent, and signals important consequences for the implementation of the BC Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’s Act. They also outlined the Province of BC’s response, including proposed legislative amendments and its application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada (which was granted in May). A future ruling could further clarify UNDRIP’s legal force and reshape how Indigenous rights are interpreted and applied.
PANEL 3
Lawyering in Intercultural Contexts: Indigenous-Settler Lawyer-Client Approaches
Moderated by Deborah Curran, this panel featured Lisa Fong, KC (Ng Ariss Fong), and Karenna Williams (Huberman Law Group), who reflected on the responsibilities of lawyers working in intercultural and Indigenous contexts.
Drawing on decades of personal and professional experience, the speakers emphasized that legal work is never neutral. Lisa Fong spoke to the importance of recognizing that clients may have strategies rooted in Indigenous law that do not align neatly with colonial legal frameworks—and challenged lawyers to embrace their role in reshaping legal practice to better meet those needs.
Karenna Williams underscored the importance of understanding one’s “why” and grappling with positionality. She cautioned against approaches driven by ego or saviourism, emphasizing instead a “career of service” grounded in humility, accountability, and a willingness to do the deeper work required to support Indigenous communities effectively.
PANEL 4
Reflections on the Cowichan Decision: Legal and Governance Implications of a Landmark Aboriginal Title Ruling
Moderated by Patricia Weber, this panel brought together Robert Morales (Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group), Ava Murphy, and Julian Riddell (Woodward & Company LLP) to examine the implications of a landmark BC Supreme Court ruling recognizing Aboriginal title for Cowichan Tribes to the site in the Lower Fraser River called Tl’uqtinus.
Ava Murphy and Julian Riddell outlined the core findings of the case, including recognition of Aboriginal title to village and submerged lands at Tl’uqtinus and the limits of provincial and municipal land title systems.
Robert Morales situated the decision within a broader historical context, noting that debates over Indigenous land rights date back more than a century and were often shaped by colonial assumptions that denied full ownership. He emphasized that the Cowichan decision affirms that Indigenous land rights include title—not just use—and that these rights coexist with fee simple systems.
The panel also addressed ongoing challenges, including reconciling Indigenous title with private property regimes and the Crown’s duty to negotiate in good faith. More broadly, the decision signals evolving approaches to reconciliation, environmental governance, and sustainable development in British Columbia
