Corbiere v. Canada (Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs)
John Corbiere, Charlotte Syrette, Claire Robinson and Frank Nolan, each on their own behalf and on behalf of all non-resident members of the Batchewana Band, sought a declaration that s. 77(1) of the Indian Act, which requires that band members be "ordinarily resident" on the reserve in order to vote in band elections, violates s. 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Fewer than one third of the registered members of the band lived on the reserve. The court suspended the Corbiere decision (May 20, 1999) for 18 months to enable consultations with First Nations on the design of a system or systems to implement the decision. In addition, the Court recognized that other Indian Act provisions were likely to be affected by the decision with regard to the equality provisions for on and off-reserve First Nations citizens.
http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/pub/1999/vol2/html/1999scr2_0203.html
(Added: July 25, 2001 Hits: 406 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0)
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Delgamuukw v. British Columbia
The appellants, all Gitksan or Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, both individually and on behalf of their "Houses", claimed separate portions of 58,000 square kilometres in British Columbia. For the purpose of the claim, this area was divided into 133 individual territories, claimed by the 71 Houses. This represents all of the Wet'suwet'en people, and all but 12 of the Gitksan Houses. Their claim was originally for "ownership" of the territory and "jurisdiction" over it. (At this Court, this was transformed into, primarily, a claim for aboriginal title over the land in question.) British Columbia counterclaimed for a declaration that the appellants have no right or interest in and to the territory or alternatively, that the appellants' cause of action ought to be for compensation from the Government of Canada.
http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/pub/1997/vol3/html/1997scr3_1010.html
(Added: July 25, 2001 Hits: 361 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0)
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R. v. Cote
The appellants, all Algonquins, were members of an expedition to teach traditional fishing methods. All were convicted under Quebec's Regulation respecting controlled zones with entering a controlled harvest zone (Z.E.C.) without paying the required fee for motor vehicle access. This zone was located within the appellants' traditional hunting and fishing grounds. The appellant Côté was also convicted under s. 4(1) of the Quebec Fishery Regulations of fishing within the zone without a valid licence. The Superior Court and the Court of Appeal upheld the convictions. The appellants jointly challenged their convictions on the basis that they were exercising an aboriginal right and a concurrent treaty right to fish on their ancestral lands as recognized and protected by s. 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Attorney General cross-appealed the Court of Appeal's holding that the appellants enjoyed a treaty right to fish under a treaty concluded at Swegatchy in 1769.
http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/pub/1996/vol3/html/1996scr3_0139.html
(Added: July 25, 2001 Hits: 338 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0)
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R. v. Van der Peet
The appellant, a native, was charged with selling 10 salmon caught under the authority of an Indian food fish licence, contrary to s. 27(5) of the British Columbia Fishery (General) Regulations, which prohibited the sale or barter of fish caught under such a licence. The restrictions imposed by s. 27(5) were alleged to infringe the appellant's aboriginal right to sell fish and accordingly were invalid because they violated s. 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. The trial judge held that the aboriginal right to fish for food and ceremonial purposes did not include the right to sell such fish and found the appellant guilty. The summary appeal judge found an aboriginal right to sell fish and remanded for a new trial. The Court of Appeal allowed the Crown's appeal and restored the guilty verdict.
http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/pub/1996/vol2/html/1996scr2_0507.html
(Added: July 25, 2001 Hits: 357 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0)
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