Cynthia Callison was welcomed to the Canadian International Resource Development Institute Advisory Council at the annual meeting in May 2016. See the attached link for the CIRDI announcement. http://cirdi.ca/cirdi-advisory-council-welcomes-new-member-cynthia-callison/
Darwin Hanna was pleased to give the opening speech for the Nlaka'pamux Rock Art Conference on May 28, 2016 in Lytton on the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to manage access to pictographs and petroglyphs created thousands of years ago by his ancestors and on the evidence of Aboriginal Title through continuity to these sacred sites.
Darwin Hanna attended the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) in May 2016 with Douglas First Nation Chief Don Harris to highlight the injustices and inequities created by the BC Treaty Commission Process.
Congratulations to Cynthia Callison and Darwin Hanna who were called to the bar on May 17, 1996 and who have advocated for Indigenous communities for 20 years!
For 25 years, First Peoples' Cultural Council has worked in partnership with First Nations to support Languages, Arts and Cultures in British Columbia. Cynthia Callison was appointed to the FPCC board in October 2015 and was elected FPCC chair starting June 2016.
Chaslynn Gillanders will be speaking on Employment and Finance Law at the Aboriginal Lawyers Forum 5th Annual Retreat "Not Just Aboriginal Law: The B-Z of Practice" in Parksville on April 30, 2016.
Cynthia Callison was appointed to the Advisory Council of Canadian International Resources and Development Institute to advise on international extractive sector issues by CIRDI's board chair on March 11, 2016 and she will be attending the annual CIRDI advisory council meeting on May 5, 2016.
Cynthia Callison will be speaking on the impact of mining on Indigenous Peoples at a Symposium on Mineral Resource Development in the Context of the Encyclical Laudato Si' convened by the OMI Lacombe Canada's Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation in partnership with Saint Paul University and the Oblate Community of BC/Yukon in Vancouver on April 8, 2016
Darwin Hanna will be speaking on the Fiduciary Duty of Band Council including consulting members and obtaining consent at the Pacific Business & Law Institute Conference on Aboriginal Law Current Issues in Vancouver on March 10, 2016. Read more click on the orange title to the left.
The Akisqnuk First Nation has plans to pressure the Government of Canada to honour a recent ruling that recognizes its claim over 3,000 acres of land in the Madias Tatley area, which is located east of the nation. The ruling is by a Specific Claims Tribunal that reviewed the Akisqnuk reserve creation and additional land decisions that were never implemented.
“It’s been a long, long fight,” said Lorne Shovar, Akisqnuk First Nation chief. “We had the tribunal hearing about a year ago. We don’t have the property back yet. It’s just a decision from the tribunal so there’s still various steps that need to happen before there’s any type of compensation or land allocation.” Read more click on the orange title to the left.
Partners in Life and Practice Cynthia Callison (Class of ’95) and Darwin Hanna (Class of ’95)
Graduates of law school are often quick to point out that friends made at law school have a tendency to be friends for life. In the case of Cynthia Callison (Class of ’95) and Darwin Hanna (Class of ’95), their law school friendship resulted in a lasting partnership in life and in law. In the summer of 1996, a year after graduating from the Allard School of Law at UBC, Cynthia and Darwin were married and founded their firm, Callison & Hanna. Read more click on the orange title to the left.
The Specific Claims Tribunal released its reasons for decision in Akisq'nuk First Nation v. HMQ on February 5, 2016. The tribunal held that the federal government breached its legal obligations to Akisq'nuk First Nation during the reserve creation process for Columbia Lake Indian Reserve No 3 when the Crown failed to reserve land that had been allotted in 1884 by Indian Reserve Commissioner Peter O'Reilly resulting in a net loss of 741 acres and excluded 2,960 acres of land that had been recommended for inclusion by the federal-provincial 1916 Royal Commission on Indian Affairs "McKenna-McBride Commission". Darwin Hanna is legal counsel for Akisq'nuk First Nation and Callison & Hanna represented Akisq'nuk First Nation at the Specific Claims Tribunal. Read more click on the orange title to the left to download the case.
With the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples having been endorsed, this session focused on what implementation of free prior informed consent could look like in Canada presented by Cynthia Callison at the AFN First Nations Forum on Energy in Vancouver on February 10, 2016. Read more click on the orange title to the left.
