| QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE |
Neil J. Sterritt, President (njs@sterritt.com)
Neil holds a Diploma of Mining Technology
(BC Institute of Technology 1964-66). He worked in a technical
and management capacity with Amax Exploration Inc. in British
Columbia, the Yukon, Manitoba, Ontario, northern Quebec, northern
and southern Ireland and in Arizona, USA.
He was research director for the Gitksan-Wetsuweten
Tribal Council (1977-81), and president of the Tribal Council
(1981-87). He was one of the principal architects of the Delgamuukw
v. Queen aboriginal title court case, which was decided by
the Supreme Court of Canada in 1997.
He was Director of Self-government and Land
Claims for the Assembly of First Nations, Ottawa (1988-91)
and co-chair of the 1992 Federal-Provincial constitutional
round on aboriginal issues (Work Group III).
He co-authored Tribal Boundaries
in the Nass Watershed (UBC Press, 1998), which has been
reviewed as an important example of how to connect research
with elders and the contemporary issue of land claims overlaps.
He also authored the First Nations Governance Handbook:
A Resource Guide for Effective Councils (Canada: 2002),
which sets out best practices for First Nations leaders.
Based on his extensive
experience with traditional and contemporary governance, and
the First Nations Governance Handbook he authored, he was
invited in March-April 2002 to tour aboriginal communities
and organizations throughout Australia and then to present
in Canberra, ACT, several papers at two separate conferences:
one on aboriginal policy and the other on aboriginal governance.
- |
Member, International Advisory Committee for Indigenous Community Governance. Professor Mick Dodson, Chair. Reconciliation Australia (Canberra, Australia, 2004 -2009)
|
- |
Commissioner, AFN Renewal Commission: providing recommendations on future structure and process of Canada’s national Aboriginal political body, the Assembly of First Nations (2004-2005)
|
- |
Commissioner on three member BC Aboriginal Fisheries Commission, providing recommendations on the future of Aboriginal fisheries in British Columbia (2004)
|
- |
Norway: invited by Sami Council to attend and present a paper on the indigenous court and negotiation process in British Columbia since 1970, with an emphasis on natural resources. 18th Sami Conference, 50th Anniversary (1954-2004) in Honningsvag, Norway (October 2004)
|
- |
Chair, former Director and Vice Chair: Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, Merritt, BC (March 2004 to 2011)
|
- |
Governor: Royal British Columbia Museum; Special Operating Agency (1996 – 2000); Crown Corporation (2003 to 2011)
|
- |
Recipient: 2002 Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Medal, on nomination of Royal Canadian Geographical Society Board of Governors
|
- |
Australia: invited, Reconciliation Australia, met with indigenous leaders throughout Australia on governance issues; presented governance papers at Indigenous Governance conference (March-April 2002; October – November 2003)
|
- |
Australia: paper presented, ATSIC conference on Policy Development (March 2002)
|
- |
Fellow: Royal Canadian Geographical Society (1998 to present); Governor: 1992-1998
|
- |
Australia: delegate on 3-week speaking tour of Australia re: Delgamuukw decision (1998)
|
- |
Thailand: with Alix Flavelle, taught territory mapping to South East Asia aboriginal leaders (1994)
|
- |
East Malaysia: with Alix Flavelle, taught territory mapping to South East Asia aboriginal leaders (1992)
|
- |
Guest of U.S. government on study of tribal self-government and aboriginal social and economic development projects during tour of seven states (1991)
|
- |
Mediator/facilitator: between aboriginal community, Surete du Quebec, and Federal Government at Oka, Quebec during Oka crisis (1990)
|
- |
Delegate, Commonwealth Conference on the Environment, Wellington, New Zealand (1985)
|
|
|
