Finding Your Allies Where You Can: How Canadian Courts Drive Aboriginal Policy in Canada

While it has been valuable to Aboriginal peoples to have the courts as allies in their fight for state recognition, it is worth asking whether the slow, expensive, incremental process of achieving recognition through litigation is really the most efficient, let alone just, policy development process...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:aboriginal policy studies
Main Author: Ian Peach
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
French
Published: University of Alberta 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5663/aps.v1i1.8611
https://doaj.org/article/a38e7e0326564c01929778c61b06b579
Description
Summary:While it has been valuable to Aboriginal peoples to have the courts as allies in their fight for state recognition, it is worth asking whether the slow, expensive, incremental process of achieving recognition through litigation is really the most efficient, let alone just, policy development process. Metis, Non-Status Indians, and Aboriginal women have all determined that litigation can be a useful strategy for achieving state recognition of their Aboriginality in the face of government intransigence. Yet the courts have proven to be imperfect, inconsistent, and not always reliable allies. This article reviews the cases in which Aboriginal women, Non-Status Indians, Metis, and urban Aboriginal people have sought to use litigation to drive the reform of rules for state recognition of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. These cases include not only successful litigation, but also occasions of which last resort to the courts has failed, revealing the difficulties and frustrations that Aboriginal peoples can face in having to rely on litigation to change government policy.