VANCOUVER, BC: The British Columbia Supreme Court will issue its decision in Chief Mountain et al. v. Canada et. al on October 19, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. P.S.T.
Assisted in the litigation by the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), James Robinson, a Nisga’a ancestral chief with the hereditary title of Chief Mountain, along with Mercy Thomas and other Nisga’a peoples, challenged the “third order” of government created by the Nisga’a Final Agreement. They asked the court to strike down the treaty for non-compliance with Canada’s constitution.
The Nisga’a Final Agreement legislation was enacted in 2000 establishing a Nisga’a constitution, citizenship, police force, and judiciary. The Nisga’a Lisims government is not a municipality where power has been delegated to it by the province or the federal government. The Nisga’a Lisims government is a quasi-sovereign state residing within Canada, with the ability to pass laws that supersede Canadian law.
CCF Executive Director Chris Schafer said, “The Nisga’a Final Agreement creates an unconstitutional independent self-governing nation state within the boundaries of British Columbia and Canada”.
