On His Majesty’s Honour: The Nature of the Crown in Indigenous Relations
Date
2023-08-18
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0009-0008-7368-9191
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
The Crown is an essential component in our constitutional order and without understanding its honour the project of reconciliation will falter. Political considerations around a rights-based dialogue have proven to be less effective than hoped. A return to the duty-based and orthodox discourse of the honour of the Crown can provide important insights to strengthen the relationship between the Crown and Indigenous peoples.
The modern doctrine of the honour of the Crown is marked by a revitalization of a feudal conception of the Crown. This conception has been employed to execute the constitutional imperative of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada through the judicial process. This doctrine forms the core of the judicial system’s effort to resolve issues with the integration of Indigenous peoples and cultures into a liberal society, but it has been misunderstood in problematic ways such as with the creation of sui generis rights for a specific subset of the population based on ethnicity. A fulsome understanding of the honour of the Crown yields the conclusion that such sui generis rights should be abandoned entirely.
The honour of the Crown provides insight to the Court’s duty to balance the interests of Indigenous people—as guaranteed through the enactment of s. 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act—and the interests of not only non-Aboriginal persons, but also the Crown-as-state. With a greater appreciation and exploration, the honour of the Crown can serve as a bedrock of Crown-Indigenous relations into the future and provide a lens based on historical doctrine to change the perspective of actors and further the project of reconciliation.
Description
Keywords
Constitutional Law, Aboriginal Law, Crown, Reconciliation
Citation
Degree
Master of Laws (LL.M.)
Department
Law
Program
Law