Westaway Law Group lawyers are experienced in leading restorative justice initiatives for our clients charged with hunting and fishing offences. These restorative justice initiatives can often replace the Western adversarial system with a process more in line with Indigenous perspectives. After an offence is committed, restorative justice approaches aim to address the harm to [...]
Restoule v. Canada (Attorney General), 2020 ONSC 3932 The Inapplicability of Ontario Limitations and Crown Immunity Defenses to Claims for Compensation for Treaty Annuity Payment Shortfalls On June 26, 2020, Ontario Superior Court Justice Patricia Hennessy released her decision for “Stage Two” of the Restoule v. Canada Treaty [...]
The reconciliation of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians in a mutually respectful long-term relationship is the grand purpose of s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Beckman v Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, 2013 A vital component of constitutional law for Indigenous peoples is section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Section 35 recognizes and affirms existing Aboriginal rights, [...]
If a court or a government official has made a decision that has a negative impact on you as an Indigenous person or collective (First Nation, Metis or Inuit group or other Indigenous collective) our lawyers will support your efforts to have that decision overturned or corrected. Appeals and judicial reviews are ways to have [...]
Westaway Law Group provides diverse legal services in the critical area of environmental law. Our lawyers are experienced advocates who understand Indigenous perspectives on stewardship of land, waters, culture, language, and traditional knowledge. We have produced numerous written environmental law submissions and critiques and have made oral submissions on behalf of our clients before [...]
“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” - J K Rowling Law reform (or “legal reform”) refers to the process of examining existing laws, and advocating and implementing changes in a legal system, usually with [...]
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FOR TEST CASES ON HUMAN RIGHTS The recently reinstated Court Challenges Program will offer funding for test cases related to the equality provisions of the Charter, among others. The program objectives are to provide financial support to help Canadians gain access to the courts for the litigation of test cases of national [...]
Federal Court of Appeal upholds compensation awarded in Southwind v. Canada, 2019 FCA 171 In 2017 the Federal Court awarded the Lac Seul First Nation roughly $30 million as equitable compensation for breaches of the Crown’s fiduciary duties in connection with the construction of a dam that flooded one-fifth of [...]
Jim Shot Both Sides v. Canada, 2019 FC 789 The Blood Tribe Decision June 12, 2019 “Canada failed to meet its fiduciary duty to the Blood Tribe and acted dishonourably by putting the interests of the white leaseholders ahead of the Blood Tribe’s interests in the land, which it was [...]
In 1973, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that unextinguished Aboriginal title continued to exist in parts of Canada, though at the time the interest was considered to be a right held by Indigenous communities to simply to possess (not necessarily exclusively) and use the lands. This right was also considered to be subject [...]
