Photography is normally prohibited in the longhouse, but a Māori member of the audience felt that it was appropriate for her to take the pictures. She provided them to Prof. Percy for use.
In November, University of Alberta Faculty of Law Professor David Percy travelled to New Zealand to give evidence before the Waitangi Tribunal as an expert witness. The Waitangi Tribunal is a permanent commission of inquiry that makes recommendations on claims brought by Māori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand. The unique administrative body has no Canadian equivalent and addresses claims relating to legislation, policies, actions or omissions of the Crown that are alleged to breach the promises made in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.
The first chair of the Waitangi Tribunal, Sir Eddie Durie - later the first Māori judge in New Zealand - had been to Canada in 1975, accompanying Justice Thomas Berger, the Royal Commissioner of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, during his proceedings. Sir Eddie Durie was impressed that Justice Berger had taken the inquiry into Indigenous communities and settlements and used his experience to develop a model for the Waitangi Tribunal.
Prof. Percy was sought out by the Tribunal to appear at the second stage of a National Freshwater and Geothermal Resources Inquiry. The hearing was held in a traditional Māori longhouse - a communal space or meeting house, also known as a wharenui - on the Waiwhetu Marae Marae near Wellington. The first stage of the inquiry found that Māori Indigenous water rights exist in New Zealand. Prof. Percy was providing evidence in an effort to determine how those rights should be taken into account in New Zealand law. Prof. Percy is an expert in Canadian Water Law, and he noted that Canada has been fairly innovative in accommodating Indigenous water claims in an allocated system.
"The Tribunal proceedings were both interesting and stimulating," said Prof. Percy. "I gave evidence for about four hours and was cross-examined by the Crown and then questioned by members of the Tribunal. In Canada, we could learn a lot from the fact that the hearings were held on Māori land with a large Māori audience. I got the feeling that members of the audience were impressed by the proceedings held in front of them, rather than in a distant city. Throughout the inquiry, the Crown was respectful in putting forward its case and the Tribunal was keen to ensure that no stone was left unturned. It struck me that the nature of the proceedings will give considerable legitimacy to the Tribunal's decision."
Professor David Percy, Q.C. is the Borden Ladner Gervais Chair of Energy Law and Policy at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Law from 2002 until 2009. Professor Percy's teaching and research interests are in Energy Law, Water Law and Contracts. He is co-editor of Contracts: Cases and Commentaries, now in its ninth edition and used at law schools across Canada. He is also the author of The Framework of Water Rights Legislation in Canada, as well as books on Wetlands and Ground Water. Professor Percy is a former president of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers. He has earned major teaching awards at the national, University and Faculty levels. In 2013, he was awarded the University Cup, the highest honour a University of Alberta academic can receive for research, teaching and service to the University and to the community.