NCN lawyerless

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The Native Council of Nova Scotia needs a lawyer and they're looking through their own constituency to find one.

The council, which represents approximately 15,000 off-reserve Natives in the province, spent almost $100,000 on legal fees for outside law firms last year, says

Dwight Dorey, director of the council. As negotiations with the province on Native self-government heat up, the council might spend even more this year.

"When you reach a certain point, it's more cost efficient to hire your own lawyer," said Dorey. "Negotiations, draft constitutions, reaching contracts, working on individual cases of harassment or hunting and fishing rights or whatever...it all costs money. Having our own lawyer on staff is bound to cut costs."

Dorey says the new job won't only save money, it will give the council a chance to encourage young Native lawyers.

"We've had a fair number of our own people go through law school lately and have difficulty getting articling positions and jobs," said Dorey. "It was time for us, and our plans for self-government go hand in hand with helping them develop and grow."

The council has begun interviewing candidates and hopes to have decided who will get the job before the organizations' general assembly, by the beginning of October.