Water Law: Collaborative Solutions within Multiple Legal Orders 2025


Course Date: October 3, 2025

Full Course Materials
Total: 5h 25min
Total Ethics: 1h

Course Introduction and Land Acknowledgement (9:00 – 9:10)

Teresa ShewardProgram Lawyer, CLEBC, Vancouver
Oliver M. BrandesCo-Director, Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships and Public Policy, POLIS Project; Centre for Global Studies, UVic, Victoria
Deborah L. CurranProfessor, Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies, Executive Director, Environmental Law Centre, UVic, Victoria

Indigenous Water Relationships (9:10 – 10:20)

  • Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs Aks Ayookxw Water Policy

Tara Marsden/NaxginkwWilp Sustainability Director, Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs; Principal, Hlimoo Sustainability Solutions, Kitwanga

  • Implications of claim to submerged lands in Cowichan Tribes v. Canada (Attorney General)    

Julian RiddellWoodward & Company Lawyers LLP, Victoria

BREAK (10:20 – 10:30)

Addressing Water Harms (10:30 – 12:00)

  • Thomas and Saik'uz First Nation v. Rio Tinto Alcan—tort claims grounded in the Aboriginal right to fish, and Crown responsibility

Melinda J. SkeelsRatcliff LLP, North Vancouver

  • Esk'etemc Specific Claim

Stanley H. AshcroftAshcroft & Company, West Vancouver

Watersheds as Health Systems (12:00 – 12:30)

Dr. Shannon Waters — Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Planetary and Water Health, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, Victoria 

LUNCH (12:30 – 1:15)

Water Allocation (1:15 – 3:00)

  • FITFIR, water scarcity, and water sustainability plans
  • groundwater
  • water quality and objectives
  • Indigenous interests and rights
  • watershed-specific innovation

Oliver M. BrandesCo-Director, Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships and
Public Policy, POLIS Project; Centre for Global Studies, UVic, Victoria

Deborah L. Curran
Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies, Executive Director, Environmental Law Centre, UVic, Victoria
Clayton LeonardJFK Law LLP, Victoria
Rosalie C.N. YazzieNesika Law Corporation, Westbank

BREAK (3:00 – 3:15)

Daylighting Legal Issues Roundtable (3:15 – 4:00)

  • legal scope of water
  • wildfire
  • beneficial use
  • changing water licenses (allocation)

Oliver M. BrandesCo-Director, Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships and Public Policy, POLIS Project; Centre for Global Studies, UVic, Victoria
Deborah L. CurranProfessor, Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies, Executive Director, Environmental Law Centre, UVic, Victoria
Clayton LeonardJFK Law LLP, Victoria
Julian Riddell
Woodward & Company Lawyers LLP, Victoria
Dr. Shannon WatersDeputy Provincial Health Officer, Planetary and Water Health, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, Victoria 
Rosalie C.N. YazzieNesika Law Corporation, Westbank

Closing Comments (4:00 – 4:05)

Oliver M. BrandesCo-Director, Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships and Public Policy, POLIS Project; Centre for Global Studies, UVic, Victoria
Deborah L. CurranProfessor, Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies, Executive Director, Environmental Law Centre, UVic, Victoria