University of Alberta Faculty of Law students Andrea Bailer, Jenna Broomfield, Lauren Chalaturnyk, and Melanie Webber participated in a unique moot earlier this month hosted by Queen's Law in Kingston, Ontario.
"The Kawaskimhon National Aboriginal Moot brings together law students from across Canada to participate in activities focused on Indigenous legal traditions and negotiate legal and policy issues affecting Inuit, Métis, and First Nations communities in Canada," said Professor Catherine Bell. "Unlike other advocacy moots, it is a collaborative multi-party negotiation aimed at achieving consensus. Students submit a position paper on a specific problem that engages Canadian and Indigenous legal traditions as well as prepare for and participate in two days of negotiation."
This year's moot, held on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples, included participation from 17 Canadian law schools. The event was first hosted in 1994 at the University of Toronto. Kawaskimhon is a word of Cree origin which can be translated as "speaking with knowledge".
The UAlberta team represented the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami - a national advocacy group for Inuit in Canada. They negotiated four points central to the development and implementation of a new Royal Proclamation on Reconciliation, including the application of the principle of free, prior, and informed consent as articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the role of Indigenous and Canadian constitutional law in guiding the interpretation of this principle. Parties at the table represented a range of stakeholders including Canadian, First Nation, Métis and Inuit governments.
The UAlberta team did an outstanding job preparing for and negotiating these complex issues. Divided into two teams and negotiating at separate tables, the students helped shift positions, identify common interests, and assist the parties achieve consensus in caucus and at the main negotiation tables. As a single party among eight others who were potentially adverse in positions, both teams did a masterful job aligning a multitude of diverse interests in a unified, problem-solving approach with favourable outcomes.
The University of Alberta Faculty of Law would like to thank Professor Catherine Bell and Troy Chalifoux from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada for serving as coaches.
Congratulations to Andrea, Jenna, Lauren, and Melanie for your success in achieving both your clients' mandates and influencing the outcomes in these complex negotiations.