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Meet Jack Woodward, Lawyer

Notable Cases and related legal work:

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  • 1980 – filed the Northern Pipeline case which challenged the “pre-building” of the Alaska natural gas pipeline based on the export of Alberta natural gas.
     

  • 1980 – filed comprehensive claims for the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation and the Haida Nation under Canada’s Comprehensive Land Claims Policy.
     

  • 1981 – prepared the first draft of what would eventually become s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
     

  • 1983 – counsel on the Peters case, the first Canadian aboriginal rights case after the 1982 Constitution came into effect.
     

  • 1984 — filed the Meares Island proceedings, and was successful in obtaining the historic injunction against logging on Meares Island in March, 1985.
     

  • 1985 to 2001 – Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Victoria, Faculty of Law.
     

  • 1989 — filed the Tsilhqot’in proceedings, a 25 year legal project which eventually resulted in the Supreme Court of Canada’s Tsilhqot’in decision of June 26, 2014.
     

  • 1997 – Intervention in Delgamuukw v. The Queen, [1997] 3 SCR 1010, 1997 CanLII 302 (SCC) (on behalf of Westbank First Nation).
     

  • 1997 – Opetchesaht Indian Band v. Canada, [1997] 2 SCR 119, 1997 CanLII 344 (SCC).
     

  • 1999 – Westbank First Nation v. British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, [1999] 3 SCR 134, 1999 CanLII 655 (SCC).
     

  • 2002 – Kitkatla Band v. British Columbia (Minister of Small Business, Tourism and Culture), [2002] 2 SCR 146, 2002 SCC 31.
     

  • 2011 – Lameman v. Alberta, 2011 ABQB 532 and related cases concerning the Alberta tar sands.
     

Public speaking and writing:
 

Woodward is a frequent public speaker and writer on aboriginal issues. Recent writing and appearances include:
 

  • Keynote Speaker, Canadian Bar Association National Aboriginal Law Section, Fortress Louisberg, Nova Scotia, June 11, 2015.

  • Speaker at the David Suzuki Foundation’s Blue Dot Tour Finale, Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, Nov. 9, 2014.

  • Guest Speaker at the Vancouver Round Table.

  • Guest Speaker at the Strathmere Group

  • The real anniversary of Canada’s founding, by Jack Woodward, National Post, October 7, 2013

Current Publications:

Reliance by the Courts on Native Law:
 

Woodward’s text Native Law has been relied upon by the Courts of Canada as authoritative on many occasions, including the following:

  • The Ontario Court of Appeal in Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte v. Brant, 2014 ONCA 565.

  • The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal in Buffalo River Dene Nation v. Saskatchewan, 2015 SKCA 31.

  • The Federal Court of Canada in Canada v. Munsee-Delaware Nation, 2015 FC 366.

Politics and charitable organizations:

  • Director of the Centre for the Defence of Indigenous Lands.

  • Founded R.A.V.E.N.

  • Founded Friends of Nemiah Valley.

  • Ran for Parliament in 1980 for the NDP.
     

Background and Education:
 

Woodward was born in New Westminster, B.C. and was raised in Surrey, B.C., on a portion of his great, great, grandfather William Woodward’s farm, near the present Woodward Hill Elementary School. Woodward’s great grandfather John Woodward’s sister, Elizabeth Woodward, was married to John Oliver, the 19th Premier of British Columbia.

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Woodward’s great grandfather Edmund Wade’s brother was doctor, historian and publisher Mark Sweeten Wade. Woodward graduated from Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School in 1969. BA, 1974 University of British Columbia , LL.B 1978, University of Victoria.

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Business:

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Owner of Harbour House Hotel, Restaurant and Organic Farm. Woodward purchased the historic Harbour House Hotel on Salt Spring Island in 2004, and re-established the adjoining farm to serve the restaurant as a farm-to-table concept. The farm produces a wide range of vegetables, fruit, eggs, lamb, honey and maple syrup, all of which is provided to the hotel’s restaurant. In setting up the farm Woodward received advice about organic urban farming from Michael Ableman, another notable Salt Spring Island resident.

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