Aboriginal Title in Canada: Recognition and Reconciliation

Abstract

Aboriginal rights have attracted much media attention, nationally and internationally, over the last thirty years. Some important issues surrounding the debate on aboriginal rights relate to land, cultural survival and identity, the right to self-government, and the interaction between collective and individual rights. These issues are often interlinked so that land is of central significance to aboriginal cultural survival and identity, and without land aboriginal peoples cannot assume effective self-governance over their communities. International law has influenced the debate through emerging norms on the rights of indigenous peoples. Indeed, Canada has been at the forefront of standard-setting activities at the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations. The Working Group drafted the Draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 1994, which is currently being considered by the UN Commission on Human Rights for adoption as a UN General Assembly Resolution. International law is of relevance where aboriginal peoples are prevented from pursuing domestic remedies for human rights violations, or where remedies do not exist. Domestic law is also subject to international law to the extent that a state ratifies international human rights treaties, agreeing to be bound by obligations to implement treaty provisions, and to monitor compliance through reporting and individual complaints procedures. Developments under international law may also influence domestic law.