Exploring Theme: "Provincial Opposition"

Premiers criticized justice minister for saying Ottawa will look at resource agreement CBC News: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba of misinterpreting remarks by a federal minister on whether Ottawa might review agreements that give those provinces control of natural resources. “Let me be very clear. The minister of...

Montreal Economic Institute – With the federal government tabling a bill last week aiming to make the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples applicable to Canada, a clear majority of Quebecers are opposed to them having special or additional rights, compared to what all Quebecers enjoy. According to an Ipsos poll commissioned...

The Globe and Mail: Ministers from six provinces asked the federal government last month to delay legislation that would apply the principles of the foremost international commitment on the rights of Indigenous peoples to Canadian laws, but were rebuffed by Justice Minister David Lametti. Earlier this fall, the federal government sent a draft of the...

National Post – On Nov. 27, Indigenous relations ministers from Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick sent a joint letter to David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett that protested the six-week time window they say they were given for input on the draft bill...

Canadian Press – The Hydro-Québec project to export electricity to the United States referenced by MEI is currently being challenged by the Innu of Quebec who have filed a lawsuit against Hydro-Quebec seeking $4 billion in compensation for the ecological and cultural damage caused by the damming of the upper Churchill River in the early...

NationTalk – Premier François Legault indicated that, on the one hand, the Indigenous Nations must be recognized, but on the other hand, there is a risk of “giving” them a veto over Québec’s development. The Assembly of First Nations Quebec and Labrador proposes to begin discussions between the provincial government and First Nations right now...

Globe and Mail – Premier Brian Pallister unequivocally states that implementing UNDRIP would compound the havoc experienced by Canadian families and businesses caused by the uncertainty in securing clarity and predictability around Indigenous consultation and environmental approval processes”. In other words, the “new federal government legislation on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of...

Indigenous Bar Association – The IBA raises the following points to point out the flawed logic of Premier Pallister’s opinion piece: Canadian courts have and continue to cite the UN Declaration to inform domestic law. Over 70 Canadian cases have considered the UN Declaration and its application. It is a longstanding legal principle that Canadian...