Post by WebsiteAdmin on Jan 11, 2013 19:06:24 GMT -5
OTTAWA — Two Alberta-based First Nations said Tuesday they are taking the Harper government to court over its budget legislation, adding another front in the actions aboriginals have taken across the country to protest Bill C-45 and C-38.
The chief of one of the First Nations at the centre of the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Federal Court, said the legal action was a separate and distinct process from the Idle No More protest movement, Chief Theresa Spence’s ongoing hunger strike, and a meeting this week between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Assembly of First Nations.
Chief Steve Courtoreille of the Mikisew Cree First Nation said every aboriginal and First Nation in Canada can make their own decision about how to voice their view of the two omnibus budget bills passed in June and December. The Mikisew Cree First Nation and the Frog Lake First Nation have decided to go to court in an attempt to force the government specifically to backtrack on changes to environmental assessments that they argue could infringe on treaty rights.
“They can’t ram bills down our throats and expect us to accept it,” Courtoreille said.
The lawsuit will add another wrinkle to the layers building around a meeting Friday between Harper and Assembly of First Nations chiefs. The meeting was largely spurred by Spence, who has gone without solid food since Dec. 11 and won’t eat until Harper meets with her and other chiefs to review treaty rights. Spence has become the public face of the Idle No More protests, although the movement’s founders have tried to distance themselves from her.
“Idle No More is a grassroots movement, it’s not a political movement,” Courtoreille told reporters before filing the challenge. “We support those processes. The process we’re taking is different.”
As for Friday’s meeting, Courtoreille said he wasn’t expecting much from it and that it would be just “another general meeting.” Courtoreille said he, like many other chiefs, wants to be part of Friday’s meeting, but he hasn’t received an invitation.
The two First Nations argue that the government failed in its legal duty to consult with First Nations about the changes in the two budget bills and are asking the Federal Court for judicial review of them. The changes to the Fisheries Act, Environmental Protection Act and the Navigable Waters Protection Act could infringe on treaty rights, the First Nations said, by affecting the fishing and hunting rights the aboriginal communities enjoy.
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the government must consult with aboriginal groups when legislation may affect treaty rights. How that consultation looks is still a matter of debate between lawyers, but the general principle is that the government must meet with First Nations groups as early as possible in the legislative process and try to address concerns, said Robert Janes, the lawyer representing the two First Nations in the case.
“The environmental changes were spectacularly secretive,” Janes said. “The First Nations weren’t given any real say in this.”
The chief of one of the First Nations at the centre of the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Federal Court, said the legal action was a separate and distinct process from the Idle No More protest movement, Chief Theresa Spence’s ongoing hunger strike, and a meeting this week between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Assembly of First Nations.
Chief Steve Courtoreille of the Mikisew Cree First Nation said every aboriginal and First Nation in Canada can make their own decision about how to voice their view of the two omnibus budget bills passed in June and December. The Mikisew Cree First Nation and the Frog Lake First Nation have decided to go to court in an attempt to force the government specifically to backtrack on changes to environmental assessments that they argue could infringe on treaty rights.
“They can’t ram bills down our throats and expect us to accept it,” Courtoreille said.
The lawsuit will add another wrinkle to the layers building around a meeting Friday between Harper and Assembly of First Nations chiefs. The meeting was largely spurred by Spence, who has gone without solid food since Dec. 11 and won’t eat until Harper meets with her and other chiefs to review treaty rights. Spence has become the public face of the Idle No More protests, although the movement’s founders have tried to distance themselves from her.
“Idle No More is a grassroots movement, it’s not a political movement,” Courtoreille told reporters before filing the challenge. “We support those processes. The process we’re taking is different.”
As for Friday’s meeting, Courtoreille said he wasn’t expecting much from it and that it would be just “another general meeting.” Courtoreille said he, like many other chiefs, wants to be part of Friday’s meeting, but he hasn’t received an invitation.
The two First Nations argue that the government failed in its legal duty to consult with First Nations about the changes in the two budget bills and are asking the Federal Court for judicial review of them. The changes to the Fisheries Act, Environmental Protection Act and the Navigable Waters Protection Act could infringe on treaty rights, the First Nations said, by affecting the fishing and hunting rights the aboriginal communities enjoy.
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the government must consult with aboriginal groups when legislation may affect treaty rights. How that consultation looks is still a matter of debate between lawyers, but the general principle is that the government must meet with First Nations groups as early as possible in the legislative process and try to address concerns, said Robert Janes, the lawyer representing the two First Nations in the case.
“The environmental changes were spectacularly secretive,” Janes said. “The First Nations weren’t given any real say in this.”