The UAlberta Law Kawaskimhon moot team with coaches Troy Chalifoux and Professor Catherine Bell.
From March 9-12, UAlberta Law students Brittaney Goetz, Jessica Cartwright, James Konopka, Allison Numerow, Johanna Berry, and Lauren White participated in the 2017 Kawaskimhon National Moot, held this year at the University of Calgary.
The Kawaskimhon is a unique moot, in that it uses principles of indigenous law and western legal traditions in a talking circle format to build consensus among participants. Built on the idea of peaceful negotiation and consensus-building, there is no adversarial process nor any competitive awards.
The UAlberta Law team was coached by Professor Catherine Bell and Troy Chalifoux, a UAlberta Law alumnus and sessional instructor.
Students were divided into two teams of three to represent the Métis Nations of Ontario and Quebec at two separate negotiation tables.
This year's moot problem - current and national in scope - involved negotiating criteria and processes for compensating interference with established and credibly asserted Aboriginal constitutional rights and interests in the Energy East pipeline corridor under proposed national legislation. It also involved negotiating terms of impact benefit agreements and revenue resource sharing with an Energy Consortium, one of the major proponents of the pipeline.
Each student was assigned a role within a multi-party two-day negotiation amongst stakeholders where they negotiated process, agreements, and creative and non-traditional solutions to the problem.
"We congratulate our two teams for their professional and passionate representation of their Métis clients," said Bell.
"Both teams were effective negotiators in all aspects of the process, helping to shift positions and fashion successful outcomes for their clients."