Gordon Christie, Professor of Law, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia.
Professor Christie is of Inupiat/Inuvialuit ancestry and specializes in Aboriginal law. He has a PhD (in philosophy) from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a LLB from the University of Victoria. His teaching is primarily in the fields of Aboriginal law, torts and legal theory, and his research work is entirely concerned with Aboriginal/Indigenous law and legal theory (and their intersection). His most recent work focuses on how colonial systems of cultural meaning frame Canadian jurisprudence around Aboriginal rights.
Professor Christie is one of the panelists who will speak at a free public symposium on Site C – “We are all Treaty people” – at Douglas College in New Westminister from 6:30 to 9:30 pm on Thursday, July 5.
Why should the Site C dam be halted?
“Besides being an economic boondoggle that will only serve to provide cheap power to the oil & gas industry as it goes about fracking in the northeast, flooding caused by the dam will make the exercise of constitutionally-protected treaty rights impossible. Canadians are treaty partners within the treaty 8 regime, and so should be concerned that promises made in the treaty – on their behalf – are being upheld.”
What can we do to stop it?
“Canadians can support the legal struggles of the Treaty 8 Nations, and (as treaty beneficiaries) speak to their representative governments, calling for them to act honourably in upholding promises made on behalf of all Canadians. Publicizing widely (nationally and internationally) the nature of injustices being allowed to slowly unfold may also serve to embarrass the provincial government to the point where it begins to act appropriately.”
Pledge to follow the court case and speak out.
