The jurisprudential life of the Crown’s duty to consult with aboriginal people in the interim of the final determination of aboriginal claims is almost a decade long. Since the Supreme Court of Canada’s confirmation of the duty in 2004, First Nations have spent a lot of litigation time and effort trying to determine just how, when, and where they can enforce this duty.
Continue readingConsultation and Accommodation Update
The duty to consult articulated by the Supreme Court of Canada in Haida Nation v. British Columbia in 2004 continues to play an important and prevalent role in the process of Crown-First Nations reconciliation. This paper discusses the state of the law of consultation in 2013.
Continue readingThe Aboriginal right to sell fish: Ahousaht Nation et al v Canada
On November 3, 2009, the B.C. Supreme Court released its judgment in Ahousaht Nation v. Canada. Madam Justice Garson (now J.A.) concluded that all five Nuu-chah-nulth plaintiffs have aboriginal rights to fish in their traditional territories and sell that fish into the commercial marketplace.
Continue readingThe Squamish Nation assessment process: Getting to consent
Overview of Squamish Nation’s environmental assessment process, which was designed to parallel Crown environmental assessment processes and ensure project impacts on the Nation’s rights and title interests are understood and properly avoided or mitigated.
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