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Aboriginal Rights And The Constitution: A Story Within A Story?, Darlene Johnston

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Proponents of group rights generally point to section 35 of Canada's Constitution Act 1982 as the prime example of legal rights being vested explicitly in groups. Section 35 declares that 'the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed.' In this paper, the author examines the 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Sparrow, a leading case on section 35, and its application to a fishing rights case involving her own community, the Nayaashiinigmiing, a reserve belonging to the Saugeen Ojibway Nation.