Dizzying Dialogue: Canadian Courts and the Continuing Justification of the Dispossession of Aboriginal Peoples

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Vermette, D'Arcy

• Since Aboriginal rights have found protection within Canada's Constitution, a new relationship has emerged between Canada's Aboriginal Peoples and the Crown. This relationship is characterized by the need for \"reconciliation. \" In its growing jurisprudence, the Supreme Court of Canada applies reconciliation doctrine to several important Aboriginal claims. Each application, however, brings with it a restriction on Aboriginal rights. This paper argues that the Court's conception of reconciliation is designed to facilitate the integration of Aboriginal peoples into larger society rather than to protect their collective interests. To demonstrate this argument, this paper examines the Supreme Court's discussion of the doctrine of reconciliation from Sparrow (1990) to Little Salmon (2010).

• Date created

  2011

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Colonialism--Laws, regulations and rules
  • Canadian Law
  • Psychology/Sociology
  • Canadian native peoples--Laws, regulations and rules
  • Humanities and the Law

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R35X25Q0Z

• License

  © 2011 D'Arcy Vermette. This version of this article is open access and can be downloaded and shared. The original author(s) and source must be cited.