Dr. Frank
Arthur Calder - Victoria
Dr.
Frank Calder was the first status Indian admitted to UBC; first
to be elected to the Legislature, serving for 26 years; first to
Canadian Parliament; and first appointed a Minister of the Crown.
He is a tireless champion of equality for Aboriginal peoples.
He founded the
Nisga'a Tribal Council, the first established in B.C. He served
as its president for 20 years, then as research director and consultant
since 1974. He was named Chief of Chiefs, an unprecedented tribute
by all four Nisga'a clans.
Yet it is for
his role in the Nisga'a quest for a just settlement to the land
question and the 1973 Supreme Court of Canada decision that bears
his name-Calder versus Attorney General of BC-that Dr. Calder is
best known. After the BC Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal both
rejected the claim, the Nisga'a appealed to the Supreme Court of
Canada. At that time in Canadian politics, this was a controversial
step that risked a profound setback for all Aboriginal peoples.
This landmark
decision established, for the first time, that Aboriginal title
exists in modern Canadian law. The Calder Case provided the legal
foundation on which the Nisga'a Treaty was ultimately negotiated,
and for the B.C. treaty process to be started after 130 years of
opposition by provincial and colonial authorities. This decision
has reverberated nationally and internationally in current Aboriginal
land claim settlements in Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand
and other countries.
Dr. Calder has
made an enormous contribution, as a peaceful warrior, as Chief of
Chiefs, to the noble purpose of creating a society made up of peoples
who have chosen freely to live and work together in a new relationship
based on trust, respect of the land and its creatures, justice,
and the rule of the law.
Among his awards
and honours are: inductee to Canada's First Nation's Hall of Fame;
President Emeritus, Nisga'a Tribal Council; Aboriginal Order of
Canada; Officer, Order of Canada; Doctor of Divinity; Doctor of
Laws; Licentiate in Theology; and National Aboriginal Lifetime Achievement
Award.
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