Treaties, Aboriginal Rights and Judicial Review

Canadian courts have recently begun to recognize a "duty to consult" Aboriginal peoples in respect of government decisions that may affect their rights. Precisely when this duty is triggered, and against which organs of government, is an important question. In Hupacasath First Nation v. Canada (Foreign Affairs), 2013 FC 900, the claim was that the duty applied to the ratification of an international treaty -- an issue usually considered beyond the pale as far as judicial review is concerned.

Proving Ethnicity: Aboriginal Rights and Administrative Process

Members of Canada's First Nations have, if they can satisfy the significant evidentiary thresholds, potentially broad rights to engage in traditional practices such as hunting and fishing. At issue in L=Hirondelle v Alberta (Sustainable Resource Development), 2013 ABCA 12 was the administrative structure erected by the province of Alberta to regulate the issuing of fishing licences to members of First Nations. In particular, the provincial government's policy provides that recognition as a member of a First Nation does not automatically entitle an individual to exercise the aboriginal rights protected by s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Aboriginal Rights and Administrative Law

Via Canadian Appeals Monitor, word that the Supreme Court of Canada has granted leave to appeal from the decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeals in Sally Behn v. Moulton Contracting Ltd.

The primary issue here will be whether individual members of a First Nation can rely on a breach of the duty to consult in order to challenge administrative decisions. The individuals in question blocked a road, thereby preventing a company from exercising logging and road use rights that it had been granted.