To Respect Scc-Affirmed Treaty Right To Moderate Livelihood Fishing For The Mi’kmaw

September 19, 2020 – Senator Dan Christmas and Senator Brian Francis issued the following statement:

“Twenty-one years ago this week in the rendering of the Marshall decision, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the Aboriginal and Treaty right of the Mi’kmaw to hunt, fish and gather in pursuit of what the Court termed a moderate livelihood.

That landmark ruling called upon on all sides to implement the decision fairly and equitably. However, today we are nowhere closer to resolving the impasse around what constitutes moderate livelihood.

Despite these centuries-old rights being affirmed by the highest court in the land in respect of Section 35 of the Constitution Act (1982), and despite the expressed commitments of the federal government to work towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, the Mi’kmaw continue to face hardships, risks to personal safety and threats to their economic livelihood.

Our people earnestly seek to have the means to meet our day-to-day needs for basic necessities like food, clothing and housing – and to address the legacy of colonialism and assimilation. These outcomes simply cannot be realized if the federal government continues to make the exercise of our right to fish contingent upon the signing of time-limited Rights Reconciliation Agreements which have been largely unsuccessful.

As Can ...