Author Description

"The Supreme Court of Canada's 1997 decision in Delgamuukw v. British Columbia provided the Court with its first substantive opportunity to discuss the meaning of Aboriginal title within the context of subsection 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. However, since 1997 the Supreme Court of Canada has not had an opportunity to apply the Delgamuukw principle to a specific set of facts. This situation changed in July 2005 when the Court released its reasons in R. v. Marshall; R. v. Bernard, cases where the Court applied the Delgamuukw principles to the Mi'kmaq assertions of Aboriginal title in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. This book attempts to place Aboriginal title within the overall conceptual framework developed and consistently applied by the Supreme Court of Canada since the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1982: the balancing of constituionally recognized and affirmed Aboriginal and treaty rights, including Aboriginal title, with other competing social interests and government authority." -- from the Preface.