Our Case Work

Challenge: Provincial government was pushing development without proper consultation. Traditional harvesting grounds were at risk.

Approach: Combined oral history documentation with archaeological evidence and historical treaties that'd been conveniently "forgotten" over the years.

Outcome: Full title recognition, co-management agreement, and compensation for past infringements. The community now has real say in what happens on their territory.

Challenge: Energy company got preliminary approval despite inadequate environmental assessment. They basically did the bare minimum and hoped nobody'd notice.

Approach: Filed for judicial review, brought in independent fisheries biologists, and documented decades of traditional ecological knowledge about salmon runs.

Outcome: Project approval overturned. New regulations now require meaningful Indigenous consultation before any development near critical habitats. Set a precedent that's protecting rivers across BC.

Challenge: Municipal development permit approved without archaeological assessment. Local Nation learned about it almost too late.

Approach: Emergency injunction, followed by comprehensive cultural impact assessment. Worked with Elders to document the site's significance.

Outcome: Permanent protection order. Site now designated as protected cultural heritage. Developer had to eat the costs and find another location. Good.

Challenge: Forestry company held active permits for logging in watershed containing 400+ year old cedars and firs. Province was dragging its feet on consultation.

Approach: Multi-party mediation bringing together the Nation, province, and company. Presented alternative sustainable forestry plan that'd still create jobs without destroying irreplaceable ecosystems.

Outcome: 30-year co-management agreement protecting old growth while allowing selective sustainable harvesting in other areas. Economic benefits flow directly to the community now.

Challenge: Negotiations had broken down multiple times over resource revenue sharing and governance structures. Both sides were frustrated and losing trust.

Approach: Brought fresh perspective to sticking points. Drafted creative solutions that respected both Indigenous sovereignty and provincial jurisdiction without either side giving up core principles.

Outcome: Treaty ratified by community vote (89% approval) and passed into law. Includes revenue sharing from natural resources, self-governance provisions, and 85,000 hectares returned to community control.

Challenge: Decades-old copper mine leaked acid drainage into traditional fishing waters. Mining company dissolved, province claimed no liability.

Approach: Traced corporate ownership through multiple shell companies to parent corporation still operating. Built case showing systematic environmental negligence.

Outcome: $23 million settlement covering remediation costs and compensation for loss of traditional food sources. Cleanup's underway and water quality's finally improving.

Challenge: Highway maintenance program scheduled broad-spectrum herbicide application along corridors where Elders regularly harvest traditional medicines.

Approach: Documented traditional use, catalogued plant species, and proposed alternative maintenance methods. Worked with botanists to show these weren't invasive species - they're deliberately stewarded.

Outcome: Herbicide program suspended in traditional use areas. New protocol requires consultation before any vegetation management. Elders now train highway crews on plant identification.

Challenge: DFO enforcement was restricting traditional food fishery without consultation, claiming conservation concerns. Community members faced charges for exercising treaty rights.

Approach: Defended criminal charges while simultaneously challenging regulations. Demonstrated sustainable traditional practices and showed conservation could work with, not against, Indigenous fishing.

Outcome: All charges dropped. New collaborative management framework lets community set their own food fishery rules within conservation parameters. Federal government finally respects what the treaties actually say.

Challenge: 5-hectare site at confluence of two rivers held massive cultural significance - traditional meeting place for multiple Nations. Taken without compensation in 1940s for parkland.

Approach: Historical research, oral histories, and negotiation with BC Parks. Showed continuous cultural use despite official "expropriation."

Outcome: Land returned to community control with co-management provisions keeping it accessible. First longhouse built there in 80 years went up last summer. Healing's happening.

Challenge: Community documented water quality issues for years but provincial monitoring was spotty and suspiciously timed. Mill always seemed to pass inspections.

Approach: Funded independent water testing, caught violations, then pushed for systemic change. Brought in expert witnesses showing monitoring protocols were inadequate across the board.

Outcome: New province-wide standards for continuous monitoring near industrial sites. Real-time data now available to downstream communities. Mill facing ongoing penalties and had to upgrade treatment systems.

Challenge: Community Guardian program was documenting violations but had no legal standing to act. Information went to provincial authorities who'd often ignore it.

Approach: Negotiated tri-party agreement between Nation, province, and federal government. Drafted bylaw enforcement powers and trained Guardians in evidence collection.

Outcome: Guardians now have designation as provincial enforcement officers within traditional territory. Can issue tickets, collect evidence, and coordinate with conservation officers. Response times to violations dropped from weeks to hours.

Challenge: Blanket fire bans prevented traditional ecological burning practices. Ironically, suppression of cultural burns was making wildfire risk worse.

Approach: Worked with fire ecologists and traditional knowledge holders to develop safety protocols. Demonstrated historical evidence that cultural burning reduces catastrophic fire risk.

Outcome: Exemption from burn bans for cultural burning under traditional governance. Province now actively consulting on integrating traditional fire management into wildfire strategy. What Indigenous peoples knew for millennia is finally being taken seriously.