Evolution of the State - Indigenous Relationship in Canada: Lessons for Australia?
Abstract
Canada and Australia share features of their constitutional and legal foundations, as well as a contemporary commitment to ‘reconciliation’ with the Aboriginal peoples. A watershed Constitutional amendment in 1982 recognised and affirmed the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada. The presentation will offer reflections on the political, legal and constitutional effects of this provision in the evolution of the state-indigenous relationship in Canada.
Speaker
Paul L A H Chartrand, IPC (Indigenous Peoples’ Counsel, Indigenous Bar Association of Canada), BA (Hons)(Wpg), LLB(Hons)(QUT), LLM(Sask), Professor of Law (retired) & member of the Law Society of Manitoba, was an advisor to Aboriginal organisations in Canada's First Ministers’ Conferences on Aboriginal Constitutional Reform in the 1980s, and participated in the deliberations on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva in the period 1985–2007, as well as in meetings towards the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2015. He served on a number of public advisory bodies including Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 1991–96.
About CPICL Seminars
The Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law (CPICL) regularly hosts a series of seminars and events that serve as dynamic platforms for intellectual exchange and scholarly dialogue. These gatherings bring together leading experts, researchers, and practitioners from around the world to discuss pressing legal issues and emerging trends in public, international, and comparative law. Our seminars and events are designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, stimulate innovative thinking, and provide valuable insights into complex legal challenges. Through these engagements, CPICL not only disseminates its cutting-edge research but also contributes to shaping the global legal landscape.