Canadian Constitution Foundation

The problem with the Nisga'a nation

Chris Schafer

National Post, January 12, 2011

Most Canadians don't know much about the legal status of the Nisga'a, a small First Nations community located in northwestern B.C. Yet this seemingly obscure issue is important to us all -- because the 1998 land-claims settlement agreed to by the Nisga'a, Victoria and Ottawa has done nothing less than set a precedent upending the very basic tenets of Canadian constitutional law.

CCF Update

Chief Mountain Backgrounder

Chris Schafer

Canadian Constitution Foundation, December 15, 2010

James Robinson - Nisga’a Indian Chief Mountain - launched a court action to fight for his constitutional rights as a Canadian, which are violated by the Nisga’a Agreement.

What follows below is a simplified litigation chronology of the challenge to the Nisga’a Agreement from 1997 to the present (the CCF formally being involved since 2002).

Aboriginals in Canada:

segregation or equality?

John Carpay

C2C: Canada's Journal of Ideas, Volume 1, Issue 4, April 1, 2008

Will Canadian courts uphold the creation of a semi-sovereign Nisga’a “nation” in northwestern British Columbia? Does Canada’s Constitution allow for quasi-independent Aboriginal principalities within Canada, each with the power to pass laws which prevail over Canadian federal and provincial law? To what extent should aboriginals have the same rights and responsibilities as other Canadians? What, specifically, should “aboriginal self-government” mean in practice? What terms and conditions should new treaties incorporate?

Justice Estay Brief

Canadian Constitution Foundation, April 15, 2006

On March 23, 2000, Justice Willard Estey, retired at the time and thus able to take part in a political process, stood before a Canadian Senate hearing giving evidence—at his own expense and time—about the Nisga'a Treaty legislation. The above quotes were taken from a brief he submitted; the brief was co-signed by Mr. Justice W.R. McIntyre at the Supreme Court of Canada and B.C. Appeal Court Justice D.M.M Goldie, Q.C., both of whom were also retired at the time. The full text of the brief is attached.