Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, please. I agree with everything that Ms. Silva has said. I would also emphasize that the UN declaration act recognizes that the UN declaration is an instrument that recognizes fundamental human rights, so our section 35 rights are incorporated in that, but it's broader th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm not 100% sure I get the question. I think certainly there are roles that members of Parliament can push for in terms of the government. I'm a big proponent of what I call “legislative reconciliation”, in that there are steps that governments can take in order to clarify the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm so sorry to interrupt. I'm not able to access the translation on my end. I don't know—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I understand now. Thank you. I'm very sorry.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't know of any other similar cases brought before the courts by other first nations. I know there was a case out West brought by an individual who had built a small hunting cabin. However, I believe that a number of communities like the Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqiyik have used woo

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I was talking to a colleague of mine who works with a lot of first nations in New Brunswick. It seems that they're interested in moving some of this stuff forward, but there hasn't been a lot of uptake from the provinces in this or other areas. I think that is a big roadblock. A

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. There are different ways to get at this. I think that co-operative process is a faster possibility. I don't necessarily want to preclude the legislative process. You are correct that it does take a long time, but a good starting point certainly will have to be working with

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today as you study this important issue. My areas of experience on indigenous issues include learning a great deal about the chronic underfunding of essential services to first nations living on reserve, including social assistance a

Fisheries committee  I am not doing a study on the ground, but I think the lack of implementation by Canada writ large of moderate livelihood rights is a problem. That it goes down to the enforcement arm of the state is another aspect of that problem. It does seem that those at the top and the people

Fisheries committee  I think it would help, but why not implement section 35? It's in our Constitution. Some people say UNDRIP is aspirational. These are decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada, from our highest court. It's the law. We could start there. UNDRIP would help that, but first and forem

Fisheries committee  There have been many instances where government has appealed. I guess in some respects that seems to be viewed as par for the course. I will note that in 2017 the government put forth litigation guidelines or standards that are supposed to reduce that. I have been a litigator. A

Fisheries committee  I feel it's comparing apples and oranges. We're talking about a moderate livelihood treaty right and you're talking about commercial access. The government presented it as just being commercial access at the time. Sure, maybe it could potentially do that. It's a separate questio

Fisheries committee  Yes, they can. It depends. That's what the Supreme Court of Canada said in the Marshall decision. With respect to Marshall and the dates that were set, he was fishing outside of closed fishing seasons and was found to be in violation. So absolutely, but again, it goes back to loo

Fisheries committee  There is, but I'll point you to the article that I provided to the committee that “regulate” doesn't mean “regulate” in the way that the Crown can unilaterally do whatever it wants. My article sets out how the various Supreme Court of Canada decisions from Sparrow to Gladstone to

Fisheries committee  They can do it by negotiating with each other. I think that would be the first thing. I don't think we would want to resort to the courts. It works okay. It can be bumpy at times, but federalism exists in Canada. That's how the federal government and the provincial governments wo