The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the “UN Declaration”) recognizes that Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination and to revitalize, use, develop, and transmit to future generati
Environmental Law Alert Blog
Through our Environmental Law Alert blog, West Coast keeps you up to date on the latest developments and issues in environmental law. This includes:
- proposed changes to the law that will weaken, or strengthen, environmental protection;
- stories and situations where existing environmental laws are failing to protect the environment; and
- emerging legal strategies that could be used to protect our environment.
If you have an environmental story that we should hear about, please e-mail Andrew Gage. We welcome your comments on any of the posts to this blog – but please keep in mind our policies on comments.
Seven Generations into the Future: "For the Love of Fish" Young People of the Lower Fraser Gathering
This spring, the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance (LFFA) and RELAW (Revitalizing Indigenous Law for Land, Air & Water) brought young people and Guardians from Lower Fraser First Nations together to discuss the importance
The hearing of Gitxaała Nation’s ground-breaking case challenging the provincial government’s “free entry” mineral claim staking regime
The Human Rights Commissioner intervened in the Gitxaala Nation and Ehattesaht First Nation's cases challenging the Province's registration of mineral claims on their territories with no prior consultation. As an intervenor, her role was to assist the court and is independent from the parties.
West Coast Environmental Law’s Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund (EDRF) provides legal and funding support for individuals and groups using the law to protect the places, people and species they care about – like Cara Cornell, a Fraser Valley resident working to prevent harm to local wetlands and wildlife caused by Trans Mountain construction.
After three years of deliberations, engagement, and drafting, the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs established the Gitanyow Wilp Sustainability Assessment Process (GWSAP) in 2020.
Last month, the West Coast team attended the UN Biodiversity Conference (aka COP15) in Montreal, where we pushed for meaningful action from our governments to better respect and protect nature.
On December 15th and 16th, Justice Ross of the BC Supreme Court heard from a wide range of applicants seeking permission to intervene in an important legal challenge launched by the Smgyigyetm Gitxaała and Gitxaała Nation (Gitxaała).
Reflections from our RELAW* Retreat: Indigenous Law in Story
(Retreat 1 of 3: November 14–17th, 2022)
*Revitalizing Indigenous Law for Land, Air & Water
West Coast lawyers are on the ground at the most important nature conference of the century