TSILHQOT’IN NATION V. BRITISH COLUMBIA: Aboriginal Title and Section 35

to appear in Canadian Business Law Journal

Swain, Harry & Baillie, James

Published: March 2015

Keywords: Tsilhqot'in, Supreme Court of Canada, Judge-made law, Aboriginal title, Aboriginal land claims, Section 35, Constitutional law

Abstract:

In Tsilqot'in Nation v. British Columbia, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed aboriginal title over 1,759 square kilometres of British Columbia, a first for a common-law country. This most recent in  a continuing line of SCC decisions illustrates some consequences of law made in the absence of Parliamentary guidance, and poses novel uncertainties for First Nations, resource developers, and provincial governments.

Disciplines: Governance

Publication: Tsilhqotin case review 13.pdf