Four TRU Law students sharpened their Aboriginal law skills at the 22nd annual Kawaskimhon Moot, hosted last weekend by Queen’s Law in Kingston, Ontario.
Seventeen law schools from across Canada participated in the event which challenges students to use their knowledge of the law governing the relationship between indigenous peoples and settler society to negotiate legal issues of importance to Aboriginal people.
Kawaskimhon is a Cree word meaning ‘speaking with knowledge.’
This year’s moot problem focused on timely questions and issues arising from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission‘s interim report and calls to action set forth last year that were followed by the newly-elected Liberal government’s committment in December to implement all 94 calls to action.
Students Harman Bains (3L from Vancouver), Ken McLeod (3L from Okotoks, AB), Brianna Meyer (2L from Powell River, BC) and Christopher Gall (3L from Vancouver) meticulously studied the problem during their Kawaskimhon Moot course last fall.
“Professor (Nicole) Schabus taught us to grasp the complex and interwoven issues at play in this dialogue,” said Meyer.
Schabus, meanwhile, applauds her students’ skills and effort.
“They performed very well, very much measuring up with all other teams at the national level and in my opinion exceeding most in terms of applied experience and analysis,” noted Schabus.
The format of the non-competitive moot is a talking circle designed to build consensus among participants (as opposed to an adversarial process). Operating in the spirit of this philosophy, teams sat around a table with eight other parties representing various levels of government as well as Indigenous nations and advocacy groups.
Meyer and Gall represented the Council of the Yukon First Nations, while Bains and McLeod represented the Government of Alberta.
The moot was specifically designed to address the implementation of the commitments made as related to the calls to action. The way it unfolded and the entire experience made a big impact on the students.
“The Government of Canada called each party to the table to discuss the issuance of a new Royal Proclamation of Reconciliation and the obstacles that need to be overcome to rebuild a meaningful relationship with the Crown,” explained Meyer.
“We practiced representing our client’s interests while reshaping the Indigenous-Canadian narrative. Peeling back the legal issues to their barebones is how reconciliation can finally begin. The value of this exercise should not be understated and it is something we will carry with us well into our legal careers,” added Meyer.
Meanwhile, McLeod, who along with Gall are involved in the Indigenous Law Students’ Association (ILSA), summed up his view by paraphrasing a movie quote he heard recently. “To the privileged—what Indigenous advocacy groups see as a push for equality—they view as oppressive,” McLeod said, explaining how this sentiment both underscores the importance of reconciliation and highlights the challenges.
The 2017 Kawaskimhon Moot will be hosted by the University of Calgary.
