Drew Mildon
Lawyer
Email: drew@woodwardandcompany.com
Assistant: Maryse Pelletier | maryse@woodwardandcompany.com
Profile
Drew holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in literature from the University of Victoria and a Master of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia. After spending a year in Ottawa working as a legislative assistant to a Member of Parliament, Drew realized he had made a terrible geographical mistake and returned to law school, and eventual practice, in Victoria, British Columbia.
Drew began working with Woodward and Company in January of 2004 as a lowly coop student, working in the “pod” – a basement room with three other coop students packed into it. Mysteriously, 3 of the 4 pod-dwellers appeared to decide that this was a great idea and also continued on to become legal counsel at Woodward and Company LLP.
Along the way to finding out he was a lawyer, Drew was at times: a maid, a lifeguard, a park ranger, a shoe-maker's assistant, an assistant epidemiologist, a teaching assistant, writer, editor and general gadabout. As the saying goes, “in the heart of every lawyer lies the wreck of a poet.”
Drew is interested in developing strategic approaches to consultation and accommodation negotiations between First Nations and resource companies; in particular, his is looking at negotiation models being developed in the academic realm as means to assert and ensure that clients are meaningfully and effectively resourced to enter into fair negotiations. His primary areas of practice are resource law, business associations, contracts and First Nations rights and title.
Drew’s goals include seeing Canada and its governments honour the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People through the recognition of First Nations decision-making power with respect to their traditional lands. He is extremely grateful and appreciative of the time his work affords him working with amazing, thoughtful and wise Elders from diverse communities.
Professional Standing:
Member, Law Society of British Columbia, 2007
Member, Law Society of Yukon, 2008
Selected Cases, Publications, Papers & Presentations:
Presentations
“Oral History Evidence in the Tsilhqot’in Nation Case: Applicability to Evidence in Specific Claims,” National Specific Claims Workshop, Hosted by Stoney Nakoda Nation, Kananaskis, AB, October 17, 2008.
"TUS Use in Aboriginal Rights and Title Litigation and Strength of Claim Analysis in Crown Consultation and Accommodation Processes," Northwest Coast Anthropologists Annual General Meeting, Victoria, BC, April 24, 2008.
"A Bad Connection: First Nations' Oral Evidence and the Listening Ear of the Courts." Aboriginal Oral Traditions: Theory, Practice, and Ethics, Gorsebrook Research Institute, St. Mary's University, April 21-23, 2005.
"Archival Force: The Ethics of Consignation." Legal Spaces: Annual Conference of the International Roundtable for the Semiotics of Law, McGill University, April 15-16, 2005.
Publications
"A Bad Connection: First Nations Oral Histories in the Canadian Courts." Aboriginal Oral Traditions: Theory, Practice, Ethics (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2008).
Other Activities:
Director, Kulleet Bay Resource Society
Director, Guatemala Action Support Association
Director, Victoria Cool Aid Society
Co-Chair, CBA Vancouver Island Aboriginal Law Section
Executive Member at Large, CBA National Aboriginal Law Section
Environmental Law Centre Associate