12 Oct Aboriginal court judgment must be honoured Delgamuukw decision mandated a new relationship with government (Times Colonist)
By Troy Donovan Hunter, Special to Times Colonist October 12, 2010
Thirteen years ago, the Supreme Court of Canada came out with the Delgamuukw decision on aboriginal title and issued directives to provincial and federal governments.
Yet those directives have not been implemented.
The court’s directives have much to do with the idea of a new relationship, reconciliation and allowing aboriginal economic development.
Chief Justice Antonio Lamer directed “that governments accommodate the participation of aboriginal peoples in the development of the resources of British Columbia.”
Decisions on land use for agriculture, forestry and mining should reflect the prior occupation of land by First Nations and “economic barriers to aboriginal uses of their lands” — like licensing fees — should be reduced, the court ruled.
Lamer referenced a long list of aboriginal title infringement — “the development of agriculture, forestry, mining, and hydroelectric power, the general economic development of the Interior of British Columbia, protection of the environment or endangered species, the building of infrastructure and the settlement of foreign populations to support those aims.”…Go to article.