2019

Note: A previous version of this article originally appeared in JFK Law Corporation’s blog on June 21, 2019. It is reprinted with permission.

This year the CBA Aboriginal Law Conference will be in beautiful Banff National Park, Alberta from June 19-21, 2019 focusing on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Register now!

I live and work in the Yukon justice system, which is also within the traditional territory of the Ta’an and Kwanlin Dun First Nation lands here in Whitehorse.

In December of 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its official report, including 94 calls to action “to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of … reconciliation” in Canada’s relationships with Indigenous peoples.

This article discusses the Federal Court of Appeal ruling concerning the processes for obtaining and presenting evidence in consultation cases in the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal in Tsleil-Waututh Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2017 FCA 128,

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has called on Canada to take major new steps to protect the Wood Buffalo National Park – an area of critical importance for the rights and culture of Mikisew Cree First Nation.

The recent decision on consultation adequacy in Saugeen First Nation and Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation v. Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry and T & P Hayes Ltd., 2017 ONSC 3456 recognized that the expense of consultation arises as a result of the proponent’s desire to pursue a project, usually for gain, and the desire of the Crown to see the project move ahead.

The federal government, through several expert panels, recently conducted hearings across the country on changes that should be made to the environmental and regulatory review system, and received submissions from indigenous communities and their representatives on proposed reforms.

Opening against newly-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pledge of a “renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with Aboriginal peoples,” 2016 was a year of great expectations for Canadian Aboriginal law—and not least in the ever-changing domain of the Crown’s duty to consult and treaty rights.

Naiomi Metallic and Sébastien Grammond look at ramifications of the the Supreme Court's decision not to hear Chief Simon et al. v. Canada, which would have given the court the chance to address what is a pressing issue for First Nations communities.