Aboriginal Rights

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network May Get Access to Human Rights Tribunal Concerning Aboriginal Child Welfare

Peter Scott Vicaire2 Comments

A Federal Court judge recently set aside a decision made by the Human Rights Tribunal which denied the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) access to hearings concerning allegations of inequitable funding of child welfare services on First Nations reserves.  Here’s the decision. 

The aboriginal parties (Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society) alleged that the inequitable funding amounted to discrimination on the basis of race and national ethnic origin, contrary to section 5 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, RSC 1985, c H-6.

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B.C. Supreme Court Keeps Aboriginal Title and Aboriginal Rights Severed

Peter Scott Vicaire1 Comment

In B.C. (Minister of Forests) v. Okanagan Indian Band, the province  sought direction, for an upcoming (November) trial, on the issue of the band mixing aboriginal title and aboriginal right, which had been severed into two different phases of the trial.

B.C. argued that Okanagan First Nation was incorrectly introducing the title issue during the rights phase, but Okanagan disagreed, stating that  the question of the Crown’s burden of proof to establish that the timber was Crown timber has always been an issue in the case, and in the severed trial, and that their recent (May) notice of a constitutional question simply clarifies that position.

The judge found in favor of the province, holding that the notice of constitutional question will be deferred to the second phase.

Moulton Contracting v. British Columbia: Collective Rights vs. Individual Rights

Peter Scott Vicaire5 Comments

Here’s an interesting case for civil disobedience-minded aboriginals to remember.  In Moulton Contracting v. B.C., several members of the Behn family of  Fort Nelson First Nation blockaded a logging road which they had traplines on.  They did so because, they asserted, British Columbia did not consult with Fort Nelson in any meaningful way and because the logging (done by Moulton Contracting) interfered with their Treaty 8 rights.

However, the trial judge struck these paragraphs of their statement of defence out (and the appellate court affirmed)  because, the court held, individual members of the Fort Nelson First Nation did not have standing to advance the legal positions set out in those paragraphs because the rights asserted were collective rights of the Aboriginal community. 

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R. v. Paul: Cabin Fever In A New Brunswick Provincial Court

Peter Scott Vicaire

In R. v. Paul, a New Brunswick Provincial Court (Woodstock) determined that an aboriginal right to hunt does not necessarily include the right to build a private hunting cabin on Crown lands.

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Leave To Intervene Granted In Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation v. British Columbia

Peter Scott Vicaire1 Comment

The British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association was granted leave to intervene in an appeal from an order certifying a class action involving the Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation.  Here’s the decision.   Below is an excerpt.

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Repeal of Canadian Human Rights Act s. 67 – Good For Individual Aboriginals ~ Very Bad For First Nations

Peter Scott Vicaire

 John Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, announced on Friday that s. 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act would be repealed, as of June 18th.  This was done to “ensure First Nations people have the same protection of their human rights as other Canadians.”   Therefore, as of Saturday, any decisions made or actions taken by band councils and the federal government, made under or pursuant to the Indian Act, will be fully subject to the Canadian Human Rights Act.

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West Moberly First Nation Added As Third Party In Upcoming Appeal

Peter Scott Vicaire

In Colonial Coal Corp. v. B.C. (Regional Manager), the British Columbia Environmental Appeal Board allowed West Moberly First Nation to be added, in part, as a third party to an appeal by Colonial Coal Corporation.

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Algonquins of Barriere Lake vs Section 74 of the Indian Act

Peter Scott Vicaire

Here’s an interesting and succinct (3:47) video explaining the ongoing struggle of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake to retain their traditional form of government, against the wishes of the Canadian government.

Canadian Forest Products Inc. v. Sam: Forestry Resource Management – Aboriginal Title Dispute at Loggerheads

Peter Scott Vicaire

In Canadian Forest Products Inc. v. Sam, the British Columbia Supreme Court provided a short term solution for two separate forestry/aboriginal title issues.  Ultimately, aboriginal interests won the day, but the injunctions provided and denied by the court are almost certainly only paving the way for future litigation. 

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B.C. Court of Appeal Dismisses Province’s Appeal – Finds It In Breach Of Its Duties To Consult

Peter Scott Vicaire

In West Moberly First Nations v. British Columbia (Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources), the B.C. Court of Appeal (Vancouver) dismissed the appeal by the province from an order declaring it in breach of its duties to consult and accommodate West Moberly First Nations concerning decisions made by government officials at the request of First Coal, a mining company.

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