A constitutional expert who represented British Columbia in federal negotiations, Melvin H. Smith Q.C. later campaigned for the No side of the national referendum that was kiboshed by Elijah Harper. He expressed his views on Aboriginal land claims in Our Home or Native Land? (Victoria: Crown Western, 1995) and co-edited Beyond the Nass Valley; National Implications of the Supreme Court's Delgamuukw Decision (Fraser Institute, 2001) with Geoff Plant.
[BCBW 2003] "First Nations"
[BCBW 2003] "First Nations"
Articles: 1 Article for this author
Beyond the Nass Valley; National Implications of the Supreme Court’s Delgamuukw Decision (Fraser Institute $19.95)
Info
On December 11th, 1997, then-Chief Justice Antonio Lamer of the Supreme Court of Canada handed down a significant decision for the future of Aboriginal land claims. Delgamuukw vs. British Columbia is considered from several angles in Beyond the Nass Valley; National Implications of the Supreme Court's Delgamuukw Decision (Fraser Institute $19.95). The collection of essays includes "Solution or Problem?"; by Melvin H. Smith and Geoff Plant, considering the potential of Delgamuukw to set a problematic precedent of negotiation on a case-by-case basis, calling it a "recipe for bureaucratic, if not economic, paralysis."; Alexander von Gernet, in "What My Elders Taught Me,"; considers the Delgamuukw decision to effectively lower the standard of proof in Aboriginal and treaty rights cases.The landmark case affirmed the use of oral testimony, and Gernet argues that "members of any given culture are not inherently better qualified to give an accurate representation of themselves and their history."; 0-88975-206-0
[Lisa Kerr / BCBW 2001]