Story shared by Claire Poirier

Rise Consulting has launched a new learning module focused on Legislative Reconciliation, Treaties and Indigenous Rights. This is one of 20 live-guided courses Rise offers virtually or in person for clients working to advance Truth and Reconciliation. This new course compliments the content of existing offerings such as Histories of Colonial Harm and Indigenous Survivance, and First Nations Sovereignty and Self-Determination. 

With the passing of the federal UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2021), followed by the release of the UN Declaration Act Action Plan (2023), a lot is happening across Canadian jurisdictions in terms of recognizing, upholding, and implementing the Indigenous inherent rights that are affirmed in Treaties and outlined in the UN Declaration (2007) as an international human rights instrument. So, why is this such an important topic to explore? And how does it link to Canada’s current legislative environment around Indigenous rights? 

The term legislative reconciliation was coined by M’gmaq legal scholar and Associate Professor of Law at Dalhousie University, Naomi Metallic, which she defines as the process where legislative branches of government use their law-making powers to proactively recognize, respect, protect, and accommodate the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples. Metallic argues that the use of legislation as a tool for reconciliation is long overdue. Legislative reconciliation is mandated in the UN Declaration, and with the Canadian government’s commitment to implementing it, the instrument now has legal effect in Canadian law. This means that both federal and provincial domestic law must be interpreted to be consistent with the UN Declaration (Metallic 2022-23: 5-6).  

But what exactly does implementation of the UN Declaration Act look like? To answer this question, Rise’s new learning module starts with the Treaties as the initial agreements that brought together distinct and conflicting worldviews – that of the Indigenous Nations that had resided on Turtle Island since times immemorial, and that of the European representatives of the Queen who approached the negotiation of Treaties to make way for Canada. 

From there, the learning module clarifies the categories of rights that have been affirmed to exist in Canadian law and how these categories overlap with the inherent rights recognized by the UN Declaration. Next, the module draws the distinction between Canada’s legislative framework that recognizes Indigenous rights by way of Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution Act, and Indigenous legal orders that bind Rights holders into relational obligation with the land, animals, and other beings that populate Indigenous cosmologies. Recognition of Indigenous legal orders is integral to the inherent rights outlined in the UN Declaration and is therefore a crucial aspect of implementing the UN Declaration Act. 

The session concludes with practical application and implications of the UN Declaration in contemporary Canada, including sector-specific examples and a cross-jurisdictional scan of relevant policies and legislation. This learning module reflects current insights and scholarship coming from Indigenous authors specializing in Indigenous rights and legal principles. Participants will gain valuable insight into the work that needs to be done to align Canada’s laws to with the minimum standards articulated in the 46 Articles of the UN Declaration.  

References: 

Canadian Constitution Act, 1982. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-11.html#h-40  

 Metallic, Naomi. Aboriginal Rights, Legislative Reconciliation and Constitutionalism (2022-2023) 27:1 Rev Const Stud 1. https://digitalcommons.schulichlaw.dal.ca/scholarly_works/1201/  

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 2007. https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf  

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, S.C. 2021, c. 14. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/u-2.2/page-1.html  

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan. 2023. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/declaration/ap-pa/index.html