It is time for Canada to do the right thing by its First Nations

Charles and Karen McFadden, Fredericton, New Brunswick, 14 October 2018

The Canadian Green Social Democrat, 2018 Fall #1

The Supreme Court of Canada ruling on October 11, 2018 in the Case of Mikisew Cree First Nation v. Canada (Case 2018 SCC 40) is an exercise in the application of colonial law, referring to Treaty 8 signed in 1899 by Queen Victoria and First Nations in Western Canada. Under Treaty 8, “in exchange for giving up their ownership of a large amount of land, the Mikisew kept the right to hunt, trap, and fish on it.”

While affirming that “The Crown has to act honourably towards Canada’s Indigenous peoples” the Supreme Court of Canada has nevertheless ruled that “this does not mean Parliament has to consult them when making laws.” https://www.scc-csc.ca/case-dossier/cb/37441-eng.aspx

The Treaty to which this ruling refers and the criteria upon which the majority of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada based their judgement in this case contravene the inherent rights of indigenous peoples, rights affirmed by the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), adopted by the United Nations on 13 September 2007 and affirmed by the Government of Canada on May 10, 2016.

Article 19 of UNDRIP most directly relates to the substance of this recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada. Article 19 specifically affirms that “States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.”

The honour of the Crown is most certainly at stake when its fundamental institutions continue to act in violation of the inherent rights of Canada’s First Nations, rights affirmed by the overwhelming majority of nations on Earth. This most definitely concerns the honour, dignity and self-respect of every one of its citizens.

We call upon our fellow Canadians through their civic democratic organizations to affirm their support for the inherent rights of Canada’s First Nations, as stated in UNDRIP. The occasion of this latest ruling is also an appropriate time to ask our representatives in both Federal and Provincial parliaments to do the right thing by adopting the practice of consulting and obtaining informed consent from the representatives of the First Nations on any piece of legislation being considered for adoption.

We further ask our political parties to adopt policies and our elected representatives to advance legislation for adoption that would give precedence in Canadian law to the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples over those prior laws and treaties that continue to contravene the inherent rights of the First Nations, as recognized in UNDRIP.