Thank you very much for that.
If it's helpful, I can provide a summary of the main points of the opinion of the Supreme Court. On February 9, the SCC rendered its unanimous opinion on the act. The reference question before the court was quite specific, and I think that's important to recognize. The court was specifically asked whether the act, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, was ultra vires the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Canada under the Constitution Act.
The Supreme Court of Canada's answer to that question was no, it was not ultra vires. In doing so, the court, in its opinion, confirmed that the act as a whole is constitutionally valid under subsection 91(24). That includes the national standard set out in the act, the affirmation of the inherent right of self-government, which includes legislative authority over child and family services, and the incorporation by reference of certain indigenous laws into federal law, giving those laws paramountcy over provincial and territorial laws. The court, significantly, found that it was not necessary for purposes of determining the specific reference question before them to determine whether or not the right of self-government is indeed a right recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act.
The analysis, then, in the reference opinion concerns the act as a whole. The court applied a two-part test to determine the act's constitutional validity. It identified “the pith and substance”, or the essential character, of the act, and then it classified it by reference to the heads of power in the Constitution Act, 1867. It found that “the essential matter” of the act involves “protecting the well-being of Indigenous children, youth and families by promoting the delivery of culturally appropriate child and family services and, in so doing, advancing the process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.” The court found that that “falls squarely within Parliament's legislative jurisdiction under s. 91(24)”.
It also found that the three features of the act were all measures that were also within Parliament's exclusive legislative jurisdiction: the establishment of national standards and principles; the affirmation that was set out in subsection 18(1) of the act, which states that the “inherent right of self-government” is an aboriginal right “recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution”; and the framework to facilitate the implementation of indigenous laws, notably by giving paramountcy to certain indigenous child and family services laws over provincial laws.
I can go on and elaborate on those points, but I recognize there is a time limit.