2024 NCRW Agenda

Time	Panel Description & Moderator	Presenters
8:30 am	Registration & Breakfast
9:00 am	Welcome/Opening Prayer – Dianna Wabie  Welcoming Remarks – Caroline Dromaguet, President and CEO, Canadian Museum of History The Honourable Murray Sinclair – Hereditary Chief Stephen Augustine	Review of Agenda for the day – Jody Woods Slido Engagement Overview – Morgan Chapman
9:15 am	Researching Pre-Confederation Claims Moderator: Shannon Williams  Pre-confederation Claims present unique challenges. This panel is intended to explore Claims that are in research, and those that have successfully settled (both through the Tribunal and Negotiations).	Madawaska Maliseet First Nation  –  Chief Patricia Bernard (Eng/Fr) No’kmaq Village Land Use and Occupancy claim – Calvin White and Kim Long
10:30 am	Health Break
10:45 am	Understanding Ongoing Harms Moderator: Judy Wilson This panel will explore how Canada’s historical dispossession of Indigenous lands created ongoing harms which are not currently compensable. These harms are profound and have resulted in loss of intergenerational transfer of traditional knowledge, culture, and language, and loss of identity.  Ongoing harms also include the continuing harms to community members’ health, safety and environment arising from Canada’s wrongdoing (e.g. toxic dust from trains, safety concerns from highways etc.)	Ongoing harms experienced by Nlaka’pamux communities  – Sherry McIntyre, Skuppah Band Councillor /Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council, BC   Nishnawbe Aski Nation ongoing harms  – Luke Hunter, Director of Governance and Treaty Implementation, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, ON
12:00 pm	Lunch
1:00 pm	Technical Presentation/Workshop – Transcription 101 Moderator: Morgan Chapman Join us for a live, collaborative panel to walk through a transcription of a hard-to-read handwritten document – sent in by you!
1:30 pm	Fireside Chat with Allison Knight, Senior Director of Investigations, Office of the Information Commissioner Moderator: Morgan Chapman On behalf of Canada’s Information Commissioner, Caroline Maynard, the OIC’s Allison Knight, Senior Director, Investigations, is joining us for a “fireside chat” about Access to Information issues in Canada. Reporting to Parliament, the Office of the Information Commissioner investigates complaints about how federal institutions process and respond to requests under the Access to Information Act, Canada’s freedom of information legislation.
2:00 pm	Researching Women and Claims Moderator: Judy Wilson This panel will explore the unique and underrepresented experiences of women and specific claims. In this panel, Dr. Sarah Hunt will provide a brief overview and update on the work of the BC Specific Claims Working Group to better understand and include the experiences of Indigenous women in the specific claims process. We will hear a couple of community examples. Jessie Hemphill, from Sanala Planning, Inc will share for feedback some draft materials and tools, created for the BCSCWG, that can be used by First Nations and others, to build a shared understanding of these historic and ongoing impacts.  Finally, Heather Burton from the Specific Claims Branch and Amanda Fletcher from the CIRNAC GBA+ Centre for Excellence will provide an overview of IGBA Plus and highlight some of the challenges with monitoring and tracking IGBA Plus data in the context of specific claims.	Overview and update on the BCSCWG’s work on women and claims – Dr. Sarah Hunt Family Experiences Protecting Land through Women’s Authority and Jurisdiction – Shelly Martin Council of Mainland Mi’kmaq, Nova Scotia. Overview of Kitchen Table Guides – Jessie Hemphill, CEO, Sanala Planning Inc. Gender Based Analysis Plus and Specific Claims – Heather Burton, Policy Analyst, SCB and Amanda Fletcher, Manager, CIRNAC Manager GBA Plus Centre of Excellence Manager, Indigenous and External Relations Branch, Crown-Indigenous Relations & Northern Affairs Canada
3:30 pm	“Applying the Minimum Standard – Optional for the Crown?” Moderator: Laurie LeClair The minimum standard was developed by Canada so that the supporting documentation for specific claims being filed would be “court-ready”. But there have been problems with its implementation. At SCB, the minimum standard has sometimes been applied arbitrarily and overzealously to incoming claims.  On the other hand, at the Specific Claims Tribunal (SCT), DOJ lawyers appear to view it as merely a suggestion that need not be applied. In both cases, the defendant’s approach to the minimum standard costs First Nation claimants time and money, both of which are in short supply, and negatively impact relations.  In this panel, Peter Di Gangi will give a short presentation, identifying some issues that have been identified with respect to document production by the Crown at the SCT, and the impacts of this conduct on the Tribunal process. It will explore who is responsible for seeing that the minimum standard is applied even handedly and consistently – at SCB and at the SCT and what can be done to obtain compliance with the MS and to promote best practices.	Crown conduct, the minimum standard, and document production at the SCT – Peter DiGangi, Sicani Research & Advisory Services Specific Claims Branch – updates on the Minimum Standard – Marie-Laurence Daigle, Director, Research and Assessment Directorate Specific Claims Branch Canada’s Adherence to the Minimum Standard at the Tribunal – Eric Gingras, General Counsel, Department of Justice
4:30 pm	Adjournment
6:00 pm	Meet and greet (and US Election Coverage) at the Bytown Museum – Limited Space – Dinner provided.   The Museum is located near the Ottawa Locks on the Rideau Canal, between Parliament Hill and the Chateau Laurier Hotel, a picturesque UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nestled at the Ottawa Locks Canal, the Bytown Museum offers a breathtaking view of the canal and its surroundings, bridging history and nature in an unforgettable scenic setting.

Getting a Cab or Uber to the Bytown Museum? Follow these handy directions! There are only 4 parking spots on site so please consider carpooling or ridesharing!