Restoule v. Canada (Attorney General), 2020 ONSC 3932 The Inapplicability of Ontario Limitations and Crown Immunity Defenses to Claims for Compensation for Treaty Annuity Payment Shortfalls On June 26, 2020, Ontario Superior Court Justice Patricia Hennessy released her decision for “Stage Two” of the Restoule v. Canada Treaty [...]
The honour of the Crown requires that the Crown fulfil their treaty promises with honour, diligence, and integrity. The duty of honour also includes a duty to interpret and implement the Treaties purposively and in a liberal or generous manner. Justice Hennessy, Restoule v Canada (Attorney General) 2018 Specific Claims The Specific Claims process [...]
“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” - J K Rowling Law reform (or “legal reform”) refers to the process of examining existing laws, and advocating and implementing changes in a legal system, usually with [...]
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FOR TEST CASES ON HUMAN RIGHTS The recently reinstated Court Challenges Program will offer funding for test cases related to the equality provisions of the Charter, among others. The program objectives are to provide financial support to help Canadians gain access to the courts for the litigation of test cases of national [...]
Federal Court of Appeal upholds compensation awarded in Southwind v. Canada, 2019 FCA 171 In 2017 the Federal Court awarded the Lac Seul First Nation roughly $30 million as equitable compensation for breaches of the Crown’s fiduciary duties in connection with the construction of a dam that flooded one-fifth of [...]
In 1973, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that unextinguished Aboriginal title continued to exist in parts of Canada, though at the time the interest was considered to be a right held by Indigenous communities to simply to possess (not necessarily exclusively) and use the lands. This right was also considered to be subject [...]
Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, protects the existing Aboriginal rights of the “aboriginal peoples of Canada”, which includes the Métis. Aboriginal rights are modern-day practices, customs or traditions that are integral to Indigenous communities today and have their roots in the community’s practices, customs and traditions prior to contact with explorers and [...]
The Supreme Court of Canada has held that a Treaty between the Crown and Indigenous peoples is unique. It is neither created nor terminated according to the rules of international law. The term “Historic Treaty” refers to Treaties that were negotiated an entered into by representatives of the British Crown and the Indigenous peoples [...]
Aboriginal rights are modern-day practices, customs or traditions that are integral to Indigenous communities today and have their roots in the community’s practices, customs and traditions prior to contact with explorers and traders arriving from Europe. Although traceable to pre-contact practices, the practice protected today will not be frozen in its historical form, and [...]
Since it was first articulated by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004, the law on the duty to consult and, if appropriate, accommodate claimed and established Aboriginal and Treaty rights has helped to promote the economic development of Aboriginal lands and communities. The duty means that federal and provincial governments must take the [...]
