PRACTICE
Whether it is research or litigation, Michael’s focus is the rights of indigenous peoples in Canadian and international human rights law. Michael has assisted in leading cases on consultation and accommodation is also involved in preserving the oral history evidence of elders for Court hearings.
BACKGROUND
Michael grew up on the Flathead Reservation in Montana. He taught philosophy in Texas before coming to British Columbia first to study and then to practice law. He is the author of First Nations Sacred Sites in Canada’s Courts (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2005).
Litigation
Michael was co-counsel in:
- Xats'ull First Nation v. Director, Environmental Management Act (Environmental Appeal Board),
- Inquest into the Death of Savannah Hall (Coroner's court),
- Cook v. Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation (BC Supreme Court),
- Joseph v. Canada (Federal Court - Advance Costs), and
- Wii’litswx v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests), (BC Supreme Court).
RECENT TALKS AND PAPERS
Michael’s recent talks and papers include:
- “Reflections on the Reconciliation of Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Peoples in Canada in Light of Aristotle’s Account of Friendship,” Seminario Justicia intercultural, Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain (17 October 2008);
- “The Creation of Constitutional Space for Indigenous Peoples: Canada’s Ambivalence,” International seminar on Intercultural Justice: Minority Groups and Normative Conflicts in Pluralistic Societies/“La creación de un espacio constitucional para los pueblos indígenas: la ambivalente experiencia de Canadá,” Seminario internacional, Justicia intercultural: Conflictos normativos e integración de minorías en las sociedades plurales, Palacio de la Aljafería, Zaragoza, Spain (20-21 October 2008); and
- “Equality Rights and/or Aboriginal Rights? The Inadequacy of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Aboriginal Rights Jurisprudence,” Facultat de Dret, Universitat de Girona. Girona, Spain (22 October 2008).
EDUCATION
- University of Alberta, 1986, B.A. (Honours First Class) in Philosophy
- University of Toronto, 1990, M.A. in Philosophy
- University of St. Thomas, 1992, M.A. in Mediaeval Philosophy
- University of Toronto, ABD in Philosophy
- University of British Columbia, 2003, LL.B.
