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UPFRONT 4 www.canadianlawyermag.com NEWS BRIEFS Saskatchewan judge rules will written on napkin is valid In a case from Yorkton, SK, Justice Donald Layh of the Court of Queen's Bench ruled that a note written on a McDonald's restaurant napkin is a valid will, reported the CBC. The note listed Philip Langan's seven children, with instructions to split the property evenly. Two of Langan's children said Langan had written the will when he believed he was having a heart attack, during a McDonald's dinner, sometime between 2006 and 2015. The case resembles another Saskatchewan estates case. In 1948, Cecil Harris "scratched a note on the fender of a tractor as he lay dying, pinned underneath," said the CBC. Indigenous Bar Association calls for inquiry into police killing The Indigenous Bar Association urges the Manitoba government to call for an independent inquiry into the death of Indigenous teenager Eishia Hudson, which occurred April 8. A Winnipeg police officer shot the 16-year-old in what the IBA said was a "disproportionate use of force." The police said officers were responding to an alleged liquor store robbery, after which the suspects had fled in a stolen SUV, which was then involved in a collision, at the scene of which the shooting took place. The IBA also called attention to a similar shooting by the WPS of a 16-year-old Indigenous boy, less than five months ago. University of Manitoba Faculty of Law hosts family law competition Western Canadian law schools descended on Winnipeg to participate in a new family law negotiation competition. The inaugural Western Canada Family Law Negotiation Competition brought together law students and coaches from the universities of Alberta, Calgary and Saskatchewan. In teams of two, the participants competed in increasingly complex rounds of simulations of legal negotiations. The inter-school competition was held March 6-7 in the offices of Fillmore Riley LLP. Organizers sought to create a Western-based family law competition, given that the Walsh Family Law Moot and Negotiation Competition will be restricted to Ontario-based law schools for 2020. U.S. commission rules in favour of Saskatchewan mining company On April 23, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that imports of sodium sulfate anhydrous from Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals did not materially injure U.S. industry. Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals was represented by U.S. firm Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath. The company is one of the world's largest producers of the chemical, used in detergents, said the firm. "This was a hard-fought battle led by our Canadian client — a company much smaller in size than its U.S. competitors. Given the current political climate, SMMI was especially pleased to see that the ITC unanimously agreed with its arguments," said Douglas Heffner, head of Customs and International Trade at the firm. Supreme Court moves provincial appeals of carbon tax to September Canada's top court said appeals from Saskatchewan and Ontario concerning Ottawa's right to impose a carbon price on the provinces will be heard in September. The cases were to go forward in March but were postponed due to the COVID-19 shutdown. In both cases, the provinces lost at the Court of Appeal, which found the feds were within their rights to enact the policy. The opposite occurred in Alberta, where the province won at the Court of Appeal. First-of- its-kind conference on Métis self government Ottawa conference comes year after signing of Métis self government agreements MÉTIS GOVERNMENTS from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario met in Ottawa for a national conference on Métis self government, including Métis leaders, government officials, lawyers, academics and First Nations with experience negotiating modern-day treaties and self-government agreements. The three Métis governments collectively represent more than 200,000 people. Métis Nation-Saskatchewan called the conference the "first of its kind." It comes nearly a year after the Government of Canada signed self-government agreements with the three Métis nations. The accords affirmed Métis right of self-government and recognized Métis jurisdiction over core areas of governance, such as citizenship, leadership selection and govern- ment operations. The agreement also estab- lished processes for negotiating future agree- ments over additional areas of jurisdiction and set out "next steps" for formal recognition of "Métis governments as Indigenous govern- ments in Canadian law," the government said. "These historic agreements will transform Canada's relationship with these representa- tive Métis governing bodies by formally recog- nizing them as Indigenous governments," a spokesperson from Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada told Canadian Lawyer. "Before the agreements can take effect, certain steps must be completed, including transition work and enabling legis- lation." WEST UPDATE