Ryan Beaton
Lawyer
Ryan is originally from greater Montreal. He now practices in Power Law’s Vancouver office.
An important part of Ryan’s Aboriginal law practice involves the recounting of Aboriginal people’s histories through archival research to support consultation and Aboriginal rights and title claims.
Ryan is also interested in civil litigation, administrative law, and international human rights. He assists on various appeal matters, informed by his clerking experience at the Supreme Court of Canada and Court of Appeal for Ontario.
Ryan is currently a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow in the Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. In September 2021, he completed his PhD in Law at the University of Victoria, with a dissertation focused on judicial conceptions and performances of sovereignty in Canadian Aboriginal law. During his studies in law, Ryan completed an internship at the international office of Earthjustice in San Francisco, a not for profit organisation that defends environmental rights, during which he researched the intersection of environmental law and Indigenous rights.
Ryan practices in English and in French. He is fluent in German. He is also conversant in Spanish and Marathi.
Ryan kommt ursprünglich aus dem Großraum Montreal. Er praktiziert heute im Büro von Power Law in Vancouver.
Ein wichtiger Teil seiner Arbeit ist die Aufarbeitung der Geschichten der Ureinwohner durch Archivforschung, um ihre Ansprüche und Rechte in offiziellen Angelegenheiten zu unterstützen.
Ryan interessiert sich auch für das allgemeine Zivilrecht, das Verwaltungsrecht und die internationalen Menschenrechte. Mit seiner Erfahrung als wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter beim Supreme Court of Canada und beim Court of Appeal for Ontario unterstützt er verschiedene Berufungsfälle.
Ryan ist derzeit ein Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoktorand an der Allard School of Law der University of British Columbia. Im September 2021 promovierte er in Rechtswissenschaften an der University of Victoria mit einer Doktorarbeit, die sich auf juristische Konzeptionen und Wahrnehmungen von Souveränität im kanadischen Ureinwohnerrecht konzentriert. Während seines Studiums absolvierte Ryan ein Praktikum im Internationalen Büro von Earthjustice in San Francisco, einer Non-Profit-Organisation die die Umweltrechte verteidigt, während der er den Schnittpunkt von Umweltrecht und indigenen Rechten erforschte.
Ryan praktiziert als Anwalt auf Englisch und Französisch. Er spricht ebenfalls etwas Deutsch und passables Spanisch und Marathi.
Ryan hat auch am Court of Appeal für Ontario als wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter gearbeitet.
Ryan es originario de Montreal. Ahora practica en la oficina de Power Law en Vancouver.
Una parte importante de la práctica de Ryan en los derechos aborígenes consiste en contar las historias de pueblos aborígenes de Canadá a través de investigaciones archivísticas con el fin de contribuir a comisiones gubernamentales y reclamaciones de derechos y títulos territoriales aborígenes.
Ryan también está interesado en el derecho civil general, el derecho administrativo y los derechos humanos internacionales. Asiste en varios asuntos de apelación, informado por sus experiencias de auxiliar jurídico en la Corte Suprema de Canadá y el Tribunal de Apelación de Ontario.
Ryan es actualmente un becario postdoctoral del Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) en la Allard School of Law de la Universidad de Columbia Británica. En septiembre de 2021, completó su doctorado en derecho en la Universidad de Victoria, con una disertación centrada en las concepciones judiciales y las actuaciones de soberanía en el derecho aborigen canadiense. Durante sus estudios de derecho, Ryan completó una pasantía en la oficina internacional de Earthjustice en San Francisco, una organización sin fines de lucro que defiende los derechos ambientales, durante la cual investigó la intersección de la ley ambiental y los derechos indígenas.
Ryan practica en inglés y en francés. Él habla también alemán y bastante español y marathi.
Ryan también trabajó como auxiliar jurídico en el Tribunal de Apelación de Ontario.
Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples (APPA), “Examine the federal government’s constitutional, treaty, political and legal responsibilities to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and any other subject concerning Indigenous Peoples”, May 2, 2022
Guest Lecture, The Endless Crossroads: Positivism and Pluralism in Canadian Aboriginal Law, University of British Columbia, February 28, 2024
Guest Lectures in Administrative Law for Professor Tim Richards on Aboriginal administrative law as an interface between state law and Indigenous legal orders, University of Victoria, Faculty of Law, June 24 and March 31, 2022; June 14 and March 30, 2021; and June 25 and July 2, 2020
Guest Lecture on Advanced Problems in Constitutional Law for Professor Joshua Nichols on the (re-)emergence of inherent Indigenous jurisdiction in Canadian law, McGill University, Faculty of Law (via Zoom), February 11, 2022
Guest Lecture on Indigenous Peoples and the Law for Professor Robert Hamilton on the Crown duty to consult and accommodate Aboriginal Peoples under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, University of Calgary, Faculty of Law (via Zoom), October 12, 2021
“Applying the United Nations Declaration: Through the Window of Indigenous Housing”, Fourth Annual First Nation Housing & Infrastructure West Conference, The Canadian Institute, (Vancouver, via Zoom), June 26, 2020 (with Ron Stevenson)
Guest Lecture in Health Law for Professor Irehobhude Iyioha on constitutional issues relating to the interplay between federal criminal law jurisdiction and provincial jurisdiction, University of Victoria, Faculty of Law, January 9, 2020
Invitation to speak at Symbiosis Law School in Pune, India – Symbiosis Law School, Pune, Maharashtra, India, July 20, 2019 (talk to graduate students at the Law School on the Constitution of Canada, with a focus on Aboriginal and treaty rights; talk to the faculty of the Law School on recent developments under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982)
“Crown title and colonialism”, Guest Lecture in Constitutional Law at the University of Victoria, Faculty of Law for Professor Kathryn Chan, October 15, 2018
“De facto Crown sovereignty and the proceduralization of the Crown fiduciary duty owed to Aboriginal Peoples”, Law at the Crossroads: Law and Society Association 2018 Annual Meeting, (Toronto), June 9, 2018
“The Honour of the Crown Reformed: The Promise and Perils of the Foundation Stone Laid by the Chief Justice in Haida Nation”, Reflecting on the Legacy of Chief Justice McLachlin, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, April 11, 2018
“CIGI Workshop on Policy Proposals Relating to the Implementation of UNDRIP” (a policy proposal focusing on Articles 27 and 46 of the Declaration), Native Law Centre of Canada, University of Saskatchewan, February 21, 2018
“The Evolving Relationship Between the Crown’s Fiduciary Obligations and Duties of Consultation and Accommodation Under the Umbrella of the Honour of the Crown”, Aboriginal Title: Recent and Future Developments, Aboriginal Title: Recent and Future Developments, December 14, 2017
“The Crown Fiduciary Duty and Procedural Legitimation of Crown Sovereignty Under Section 35”, Reconciliation: Wahkotowin, University of Alberta and Centre for Constitutional Studies, September 21-23, 2017
“Recent Judicial Approaches to Balancing Indigenous Land Claims Against State Sovereignty: The Juridification and Legitimation of Settler State Sovereignty”, Walls, Borders, and Bridges: Law and Society in an Inter-Connected World 2017 International Meeting on Law and Society, (Mexico City), June 23, 2017
“The Rise of Judicial Sovereignty over Indigenous Lands: Courts and the Procedural Policing of Sovereignty in the 21st Century”, Re-storying Canada: Reconsidering Religion and Public Memory, University of Ottawa, Institute of Canadian and Aboriginal Studies, May 20, 2017
“Nietzsche’s Conception of the Ascetic ideal”, Summer School on Critical Theory, University of Kent (Paris), 13-24 June 2016
“The Recent Focus of Settler-State Courts on the Procedural Legitimation of State Sovereignty Over Indigenous Lands”, Human Rights and Empire: A Graduate Student Conference, University of Chicago, 19-20 May 2016
“Nihilism and Hope in the Self-Overcoming of (European) Sovereignty”, Nihilism. Hope: A Graduate Student Conference in Cultural, Social and Political Thought, University of Victoria, 22-24 April 2016
“Schopenhauer as Internal Critic of Kant: Holding Kant to a Deterministic Conception of the Inclinations”, 5th International Conference of Philosophy, Athens, 1 June 2010 (conference proceedings, v 5, 2010)
“Making sense of Quine on Mathematics”, University of Western Ontario Logic, Mathematics, and Physics Graduate Conference, University of Western Ontario, April 2009
“Nietzche on Kantian Dualisms and Escaping Utilitarianism”, University of Ottawa Graduate Student Philosophy Conference, University of Ottawa, March 2009
Cynicism, Legitimacy, and Ideological Transition: The Positivist-Pluralist Struggle in Canadian Aboriginal law, based on my University of Victoria PhD dissertation, accepted as a book project by University of Toronto Press (forthcoming)
“But, how can that be law for me?’: Indigenous Jurisdiction and Canadian Federalism after Tsilhqot’in”, co-authored with Robert Hamilton and Joshua Nichols, forthcoming in special issue of UNB Law Journal (forthcoming)
“Room to Manoeuvre: The Legal Imagination of Sovereignty in Indigenous-State Relations”, chapter in forthcoming book, Futures of Federalism, with the University of Toronto Press (forthcoming)
“Doctrine Calling: Inherent Indigenous Jurisdiction in Vuntut Gwitchin” (2022), University of Alberta Centre for Constitutional Studies, Constitutional Forum, Volume 31.2, 39-52
“Performing Sovereignty in a Time of Ideological Instability: BC’s Bill 41 and the Reception of UNDRIP into Canadian Law” (2021), UBC Law Review 53:4, 1017-1063
“The State of Canadian Law on Representation and Standing in Aboriginal Rights and Title Litigation”, chapter 6 in Wise Practices: Exploring Indigenous Economic Justice and Self-Determination (University of Toronto Press, 2021)
“Indigenous Economic Justice and Self-Determination: Wise Practices in Indigenous Law, Governance, and Leadership”, co-authored with Robert Hamilton and Joshua Nichols, chapter 1 in Wise Practices: Exploring Indigenous Economic Justice and Self-Determination (University of Toronto Press, 2021)
Wise Practices: Exploring Indigenous Economic Justice and Self-Determination (University of Toronto Press, 2021) (co-author)
“Legal Pluralism and Caron v Alberta: A Canadian Case Study in Constitutional Interpretation” (2019), Review of Constitutional Studies 24:1
Book Review of Uncertain Accommodation: Aboriginal Identity and Group Rights in the Supreme Court of Canada by Dimitrios Panagos, in The Canadian Historical Review 99:4 (2018)
“Articles 27 and 46(2): UNDRIP signposts pointing beyond the justifiable-infringement morass of section 35”, in UNDRIP Implementation: Braiding International, Domestic and Indigenous Laws (Centre for International Governance Innovation 2018); available online
“De facto and de jure Crown Sovereignty: Reconciliation and Legitimation at the Supreme Court of Canada” (2018), University of Alberta Centre for Constitutional Studies, Constitutional Forum, Volume 26.4 – Reconciliation: Wahkohtowin
“UNDRIP Implementation: More Reflections on the Braiding of International, Domestic and Indigenous Laws” (2018) Special Report (with Aimée Craft, Brenda L. Gunn, Cheryl Knockwood, Gordon Christie, Hannah Askew, James (Sa’ke’j) Youngblood Henderson, John Borrows, Joshua Nicholas, Kerry Wilkins, Larry Chartrand, Oonagh Fitzgerald, Robert Hamilton, Sarah Morales, Sheryl Lightfoot)
“The Crown Fiduciary Duty at the Supreme Court of Canada: Reaching across Nations, or Held within the Grip of the Crown?” (2018) Canada in International Law at 150 and Beyond Paper No. 6 Series: Canada in International Law at 150 and beyond
“Aboriginal Title in Recent Supreme Court of Canada Jurisprudence: What Remains of Radical Crown Title?” (2014) 33 Nat’l J Const Law 61
“Eudaimonism” in Hugh LaFolette, International Encyclopedia of Ethics (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013) (with Jennifer Whiting)
“Legal Regulation of Coal Mining in India: An Overview” (2011), Report prepared for Greenpeace Indian for the Alternative Law Forum in Bangalore (et al)
Nicholas v Canada (Attorney General) (constitutional challenge to the registration provisions of theIndian Act as violating section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms due to discrimination on the basis of sex, of marital / family status, and of a family history of enfranchisement)
Ashley Suzanne Barendregt v Geoff Bradley Grebliunas, 2022 CSC 22 (How should the Palmer test to admit fresh or new evidence be applied in the “slightly relaxed” conditions of custody cases? Whether a different test should be applied to applications involving “fresh” evidence as opposed to “new” evidence?)
Malii v British Columbia (Attorney General), 2019 BCSC 2060 (application to disqualify counsel, conflicts of interest)
Renvoi sur l’article 35 C.p.c. et la compétence de la Cour du Québec
Mamani v Berzain, 654 F.3d 1148 (11th Cir. 2011)
Gitanyow First Nations v British Columbia (Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations)
Ryan is completing a doctoral thesis titled: “Aboriginal title at the Supreme Court of Canada: Rethinking the Indigenous-Crown fiduciary relationship and the dynamic of legitimacy between state sovereignty and popular sovereignty.”
During his studies at Harvard University, Ryan received an award for having completed 1000 hours of pro bono service as a part of the Human Rights Law Program and a fellowship for completing an internship abroad (the Harvard Law School Human Rights Program Summer Fellowship). Ryan was a member of Harvard Law’s 2011 Ames Moot team, that made it to the quarter finals. He served as a torts teaching assistant for Professor Jed Ryan.
Ryan undertook a number of research projects while at Harvard Law. He worked as a research assistant for Professor Duncan Kennedy, focusing on the analysis of political questions resulting from decisions of the Supreme Court of Israel. He also completed research in international humanitarian law pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while working with the human rights clinic at the Harvard University Faculty of Law. As a first year law student at the Faculty of Law, Ryan conducted research concerning the responsibility of corporate directors for violations under the Alien Tort Claims Act for a case before the 11th Circuit relating to a human rights violation in Bolivia.
During his doctoral studies in philosophy, Ryan received the Martha Lile Love Excellence Prize (2009). His doctoral thesis was titled: “Anti-Utilitarians: Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche on Motivation, Agency and the Formation of a Higher Self”.
In the summer sessions in 2003 and 2009, Ryan was a visiting professor in the Department of Philosophy at McGill University and the University of Toronto, respectively.
Ryan was awarded the Horace Watson medal for the highest average in Physics (2002), and the Charles Fox prize for the highest average in Mathematics from McGill University.
Ryan was also on the track and field team at McGill University.
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