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Full-Text Articles in Law
Brightening The Covenant Chain: Aboriginal Treaty Meanings In Law And History After Marshall, Mark D. Walters
Brightening The Covenant Chain: Aboriginal Treaty Meanings In Law And History After Marshall, Mark D. Walters
Dalhousie Law Journal
The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Marshall raises some difficult questions about the interpretation of Crown-Aboriginal treaties, especially treaties dating from the eighteenth century. The Court acknowledged that the treaty context is important to establishing the meaning of treaty texts, and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal perspectives must be considered. As a result, judges must have regard to historical analyses of Crown-Aboriginal relations when interpreting these old treaties. In this article, the author explores some of the complex theoretical problems that such legal-historical analyses create, focusing in particular upon the possibility that lawyers and judges may reach …
Marshalling Principles From The Marshall Morass, Leonard Rotman
Marshalling Principles From The Marshall Morass, Leonard Rotman
Dalhousie Law Journal
The Marshall case is the latest in a long series of Supreme Court of Canada decisions concerned with the interpretation of treaties between the Crown and aboriginal peoples in Canada. While the majority and minority judgments agreed on the principles of treaty interpretation to be applied in the case, the significant divergence in opinion between the majority and minority decisions provides important commentary on the differences between articulating and applying these principles. The Marshall case is also noteworthy for the manner in which it addresses similarities and differences pertaining to aboriginal and treaty rights. Because of these various traits, the …
An Empty Shell Of A Treaty Promise: R. V. Marshall And The Rights Of The Non-Status Indians, Pamela Palmater
An Empty Shell Of A Treaty Promise: R. V. Marshall And The Rights Of The Non-Status Indians, Pamela Palmater
Dalhousie Law Journal
One of the difficult issues presented by R. v. Marshall is that of who is a Mi'kmaq person, or more generally who is entitled to claim to be a beneficiary of the Treaties of 1760-61. This paper examines a number of possible approaches to this matter, including ones based on residence (on or off reserve), descent and the terms of the Indian Act. It notes the deficiencies of existing tests and of Canadian case law that has addressed Aboriginal identity in other contexts. It concludes by noting that the negotiations which must follow in the wake of Marshall present the …
Getting Their Feet Wet: The Supreme Court And The Practical Implementation Of Treaty Rights In The Marshall Case, Phillip Saunders
Getting Their Feet Wet: The Supreme Court And The Practical Implementation Of Treaty Rights In The Marshall Case, Phillip Saunders
Dalhousie Law Journal
Judicial decisions which recognize aboriginal or treaty rights to natural resources inevitably lead on to a process of negotiation, as governments and aboriginal and other users of the resource define the access and management regimes which allow for practical implementation of the legal rights. Courts should be cognizant of the impact of their decisions on such negotiations, and provide adequate clarity and substantive guidance to negotiators. This article considers the decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada in the Marshall case from this perspective, and details the shortcomings which made the prospects for successful negotiations less favourable. The weaknesses in …
Of Provinces And S.35 Rights, Kerry Wilkins
Of Provinces And S.35 Rights, Kerry Wilkins
Dalhousie Law Journal
It is now well established that federal law and regulatory activity may interfere with the exercise of aboriginal peoples' existing treaty and aboriginal rights, despite s. 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982, whenever the federal government can justify the interference. It is not yet clear, though, what power, if any, Canada's provinces have to regulate, even in justified ways, such rights and their exercise. This article argues that the provinces, as a general rule, have no such authority. Except in certain very specific and isolated circumstances, they have no power, even apart from s. 35, to regulate the exercise of …
Mikmaw Tenure In Atlantic Canada, James [Sákéj] Youngblood Henderson
Mikmaw Tenure In Atlantic Canada, James [Sákéj] Youngblood Henderson
Dalhousie Law Journal
The Supreme Court of Canada has characterized aboriginal title to land as a sui generis legal interest. This essay describes the sui generis interest of Mikmaw tenure in Atlantic Canada from a Mikmaq linguistic perspective. The author argues the prerogative treaties and legislation of the eighteenth century suggest it is a reserved and protected tenure, which in Eurocentric law might be reconceptualized as allodial tenure.
A Note About In The Rapids, Wendy Whitecloud
A Note About In The Rapids, Wendy Whitecloud
Dalhousie Law Journal
In The Rapids presents the views of the authors regarding First Nations people in Canada and the issues confronting them as individuals, within their nations, and within their communities. Mary Ellen Turpel and Ovide Mercredi are both First Nations Individuals. They share their own points of view and provide information with respect to these issues in their book. Throughout the book the authors share information by canvassing issues like the significance of Treaties to First Nations people; the provisions of the Indian Act and its effects on First Nations people; disputes over lands and resources; the social consequences of the …