NATIONAL NEWS
CBA Says Bill C-3 Falls Short in Addressing Sex Discrimination
Chris Devlin, Executive Member of the CBA’s National Aboriginal Law Section
The CBA’s National Aboriginal Law Section says that while Bill C-3, Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act may be well intentioned, it falls short of the mark in addressing sex discrimination.

“The Bill represents the first time in 25 years that Parliament has considered the registration provisions of the Indian Act. Will Bill C-3 actually promote gender equality in Indian registration? Our answer is sort of, but not quite,” says Chris Devlin of Victoria, Executive member of the CBA’s National Aboriginal Law Section.

“The CBA recommends that Bill C-3 be amended so that a grandchild born before 1983 with a female grandparent would receive the same entitlement to Indian status as a grandchild of a male grandparent born in the same period,” explains Chris Devlin.

The legislation was introduced in response to a lawsuit by Sharon McIvor, challenging the 1985 amendments to the Indian Act on the basis of sex discrimination at the Supreme Court of B.C. The trial judge ruled in her favour. The Government of Canada appealed the trial decision and the B.C. Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part.

The McIvor case addresses longstanding sex discrimination in the criteria for determining registration status under the Indian Act. Until 1985, status under the Indian Act followed the paternal line, transmitted by male Indians as fathers and husbands, but not by female Indians as mothers and wives. The 1985 amendments, designed to address this discrimination, did not operate retroactively, thus perpetuating aspects of the historical discrimination.

According to the CBA’s nine-page submission, Bill C-3 does not completely eliminate discrimination from the registration provisions of the Act. “The proposals do not address discriminatory aspects of the ‘second generation cut-off rule’ enacted in 1985.” The second-generation cut-off rule occurs as a result of two successive generations of parenting with non-Indians of either sex.

“Perhaps more importantly,” continues the brief, “Bill C-3 would not sufficiently address the source of discrimination identified by the B.C. Court of Appeal.” As well, Bill C-3 would only eliminate discrimination for some individuals; others would continue to suffer discrimination by receiving lesser or no status because they had, for example, an Indian grandmother instead of an Indian grandfather.

To address the underlying problem, the CBA recommends that Parliament take the opportunity to fully eradicate gender inequality in the registration provision of the Indian Act, rather than simply follow the letter of the law outlined in the B.C. Court of Appeal decision.

Chris Devlin presented the CBA submission to the Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development on April 15, 2010.

CBA submission: www.cba.org/CBA/submissions/pdf/10-21-eng.pdf

Robert Brun, QC Elected CBA National Second Vice-President
Robert Brun, QC of Vancouver is the CBA’s new Second Vice-President-elect following the vote by Council. He will become Second Vice-President at the CBA’s Canadian Legal Conference in Niagara in August, the first step on the way to the presidency in 2012.

With more than 30 years of CBA experience, nationally and provincially, Robert currently serves on the CBA’s National Task Force on Conflicts of Interest and has been CBABC’s appointee to the Justice Review Task Force since 2006. He was president of CBABC in 2003-2004 and served on the CBA’s Board of Directors the same year. He is currently a Bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia and Vice-Chair of its Practice Standards Committee. Robert has been a member of the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C. since 1991.

During his election campaign, Robert focused on leadership, membership and advocacy. He favours a consultative approach to the presidency and is dedicated to increasing membership. “I will work nationally and with the Branches to improve our legal system by promoting the rule of law,” said Robert Brun. “I will ensure the views of the CBA are known in the corridors of Parliament.”

Robert has been a partner at Harris & Brun since 1985. Called to the Bar in 1978, he has a special interest in personal injury and workers’ compensation law. He is also experienced in the fields of insurance and administrative law.

NEW PROGRAM
New Master’s Program in Law, Justice and Ethics
The new M.Ed. degree program at SFU is projected to start in the fall 2011 and will finish during the summer 2013.

This new Master’s program will introduce teachers, school administrators, school district staff, leaders in post secondary education, personnel in non-governmental educational agencies such as the police and human rights organizations, etc. to the Canadian legal system, and in particular to education law, relevant case law, provincial and federal statutes, conflict resolution strategies, law-related education for youth, inclusion and diversity challenges and solutions, ethical dilemmas, ethics of care, critical pedagogy, and other current issues such as cyber-bullying and violence in schools. The focus will be both theoretical and practical.

COMMITTEE NEWS
Court Rules Implementation Monitoring Initiative
The new Supreme Court Civil and Family rules come into force on July 1, 2010. The CBA has set up subcommittees to monitor implementation, collect concerns about the functioning of the new rules, and distribute information to members about how the rules are being interpreted.

Please visit “Initiatives” at www.cba.org/bc to report any concerns or pass on any reasons for judgment or other information about interpretation of the new rules.

LLRC: CBABC Voice for Law Reform
The CBABC Legislation and Law Reform Committee (LLRC) is a standing committee composed of appointed CBABC members who practice a wide range of law. The LLRC works to analyze new and existing B.C. legislation, make recommendations to the provincial government on law reform matters and alert the profession about important B.C. legislation. If you have any questions on law reform matters, want to be an LLRC member or have a law reform project in mind, contact the LLRC at srennie@bccba.org.

The Race Is On: Save the Date!
The Aboriginal Law Student Scholarship Trust (ALSST) is a joint initiative between the Canadian Bar Association (B.C. Branch) and the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) to raise $500,000 toward an endowment for Aboriginal students attending the University of British Columbia or University of Victoria Law Schools. To date, $182,923 has been raised and is administered by NAAF.

The inaugural ALSST Committee was Co-Chaired by Maria Morellato, QC and Beverly O’Neil, with the assistance of CBABC Executive Liaison, Arlene Henry, QC. Fundraising efforts started in 2008 with a spring launch. Initial fundraising was promising, augmented by a $75,000 matching grant from The Law Foundation of British Columbia.

In addition to the Committee’s efforts, Isabel Jackson (counsel, Department of Justice) and Jennifer Duncan (associate, McDonald & Company) have spearheaded an online silent auction that runs the week of June 21, National Aboriginal Day. In 2009, the auction raised $5000. Details for this year’s Auction and Event will be posted on the Auction website http://nadauction.com.

This year, the ALSST generated enough interest to provide two first year law students at the University of Victoria scholarships of $2,375 each.

The current ALSST Committee is Co-Chaired by Tina Dion and Michael McDonald, who are leading a group of dedicated individuals, including Maria Morellato, QC, Janelle Dwyer, Deborah Jeffrey, George Hungerford, CFA, Darwin Hanna, Douglas White and Lindsay LeBlanc. Jennifer Spencer (Miller Thomson LLP) is the CBABC Executive Liaison for this Committee. The Committee will hold a fundraising Gala on Thursday, September 30, 2010 at the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel in Vancouver. The CBABC and the Law Society will join us in circulating more details to the profession over the summer. The Gala will feature live and silent auctions as well as entertainment.

Mark your calendars, everyone! Join us in raising scholarship funds on September 30th!

These articles were published in the June 2010 issue of BarTalk. © 2010 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.