New! February 2010: Peter Grant presented an overview presentation to lawyers in Quebec on the recent developments on the Consultation law and the Goal of Reconciliation in British Columbia on February 24, 2010 in Montreal.
September 2009: Peter Grant has been rated as distinguished on the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating and has been acknowledged as having expertise in the field of Aboriginal law under the Independent Pier Review of L’expert.
March, 2008: Read Peter Grant Profile in Winter '08 UBC Alumni Magazine
Called to the Bar: June, 1976 (British Columbia)
PRACTICE
Peter has practiced in the Aboriginal law field since 1976. He first became involved in looking at Aboriginal issues when he worked for Leonard Peltier as part of the defence team. Mr. Peltier had been active in an AIM campaign to protect the Blackhills of South Dakota. From 1977 to 1995 Peter lived and worked in the Gitxsan territory and practiced law principally for the Gitxsan and the Wet’suwet’en in north central British Columbia. He worked as counsel in Delgamuukw v. The Queen which went to the Supreme Court of Canada. Peter specializes particularly in:
- litigation of aboriginal rights and title;
- consultation and accommodation agreements;
- negotiating treaties of peace and friendship between aboriginal nations to address overlap;
- negotiation of forestry agreements, hydro power agreements and other resource development agreements with First Nations;
- litigation of treaty rights;
- litigation of claims under the Northern Flood Agreement in Manitoba;
- negotiation of Lands to be transferred to Reserve status through Canada’s ATR process;
- compensation for wrongful taking of Reserve Lands;
- litigation and negotiation of Residential School claims.
BACKGROUND
Peter was one of the lead counsel in Delgamuukw v. The Queen the leading Canadian aboriginal title case from the commencement of the case until its completion in the Supreme Court of Canada. He was also counsel in many cases on aboriginal fishing rights (R v. Nikal) [SCC]; the duty to consult and accommodate aboriginal rights and title Gitxsan Nation v. British Columbia [BCSC] Gwasslam v. British Columbia, Blaney v. Minister of Lands [BCSC], Hupacasath v. Minister of Forests [BCSC], Wii’litswx vs. Minister of Forests [BCSC], and the earliest residential school cases (Blackwater v. Plint [SCC]); Aleck v. Clarke [BCCA]; and Barney v. Plint [SCC].
Peter has been a member of the International Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism since 1981.
He is a past Chair of the National Aboriginal Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association. Peter has been the CBA representative for aboriginal law on the Federal Bench and Bar Liaison Committee from 1998 until 2010. He is active in working with the Federal Court – Aboriginal Law Liason Committee on Guidelines for Elder’s Evidence.
Since the Indian Residential School Settlement, Peter has been elected the representative of Independent Counsel on the National Administration Committee [NAC] which is responsible for the implementation of the Indian Residential School Settlement.
Peter has always supported pro bono work. In October, 2007, Peter acted for the mother of the late Savanah Hall in an Inquest into the death of a child in foster care in Prince George which led to 26 recommendations, including 17 directed to the Ministry of Children and Family Development. The First Nations Summit and the UBCIC have called for the implementation of those recommendations.
Peter has been actively involved in making presentations on a regular basis to continuing legal education both in British Columbia and in other provinces.
Education
LLB, UBC, 1975
BA [English and Film Production], 1971
Publications, Papers, Presentations
On Residential Schools:
- The Depth of the Ocean: General and Aggravated Damages for Childhood Sexual Abuse in Residential Schools (Paper presented at 3rd Annual National Summit on Institutional Liability for Sexual Assault and Abuse, Toronto, Ontario, February, 2002)
- Residential Schools Resolution: The Plaintiffs' Perspective on Litigation (Paper presented at the Canadian Bar Association conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba, April, 2000)
- Prosecuting Residential School Claims (Paper presented at the mid-winter Canadian Bar Association conference, Saskatchewan, 1999)
On Assistance to Aboriginal Governments:
- Governing Lands and Waters: Limits to Reserve Title and Indian Act Powers in British Columbia and Proposals for Reform (co-authored with David Schulze, (2001) 35 UBC Law review 415)
- Reservations on Reserves: The Shrinking Ambit of Reserve Title and Indian Act Powers and the New Possibilities of s. 35 Rights (Paper presented to the Canadian Bar Association, Aboriginal Law Section Spring meeting, April 24, 1997)
On Treaty Negotiations:
- Should S. 91(24) Lands Remain in in Place in post-Treaty British Columbia? (co-authored with
Lee Caffrey, presented to the Pacific Business and Law Institute Conference, Ottawa, 2004)
download Paper [PDF]
On Aboriginal Title:
- Consultation and the Goal of Reconciliation, February 2010, Canadian Conference on Aboriginal Litigation and Recognition (Montreal) Download Paper [PDF]
- The Supreme Court of Canada’s Decision in Marshall and Bernard: Its Implications for Aboriginal Title in British Columbia, co-authored with Michael Ross, 2005
Download Paper [PDF] - Oral History in Delgamuukw, Presentation to the Delgamuukw Conference, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, January 1998
- The Delgamuukw Decision and Oral Histories, Paper presented to the Prairie Treaty Gathering, Saskatchewan, August 5 and 6, 1998
- Recognition of Traditional Laws in State Courts and the Formulation of State Legislation, in Indigenous Law and the State, Morse & Goodman eds., Foris Publications, 1998, p. 259
- The Reconciliation Between Aboriginal Title and Treaty Rights in the Forests of British Columbia, Canadian Bar Association Annual Meeting, 1995
- The Gitksan-Wet’suwet’en Land Claims: Pushing the Boundaries of the Recognition of the Content of Aboriginal Jurisdiction, in Law and Anthropology, Vol 5, 1981, p. 121