Standoff

Why Reconciliation Fails Indigenous People and How to Fix It

Bruce McIvor

• Publisher: Nightwood Editions
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780889714205
• eBook ISBN: 9780889714212
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Civil Law
• Index: Law

Faced with a constant stream of news reports of standoffs and confrontations, Canada's "reconciliation project" has obviously gone off the rails. In this series of concise and thoughtful essays, lawyer and historian Bruce McIvor explains why reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is failing and what needs to be done to fix it.

Widely known as a passionate advocate for Indigenous rights, McIvor reports from the front lines of legal and political disputes that have gripped the nation. From Wet'suwet'en opposition to a pipeline in northern British Columbia, to Mi'kmaw exercising their fishing rights in Nova Scotia, McIvor has been actively involved in advising First Nation clients, fielding industry and non-Indigenous opposition to true reconciliation, and explaining to government officials why their policies are failing.

McIvor's essays are honest and heartfelt. In clear, plain language he explains the historical and social forces that underpin the development of Aboriginal law, criticizes its shortcomings and charts a practical, principled way forward.

By weaving in personal stories of growing up Métis on the fringes of the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba and representing First Nations in court and negotiations, McIvor brings to life the human side of the law and politics surrounding Indigenous peoples' ongoing struggle for fairness and justice. His writing covers many of the most important issues that have become part of a national dialogue, including systemic racism, treaty rights, violence against Indigenous people, Métis identity, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and the duty to consult.

McIvor's message is consistent and powerful: if Canadians are brave enough to confront the reality of the country's colonialist past and present and insist that politicians replace empty promises with concrete, meaningful change, there is a realistic path forward based on respect, recognition and the implementation of Indigenous rights.

Further Reading

Looking to learn more about Indigenous rights? I hope you find this reading list informative and helpful. It is not meant to be exhaustive.

Aboriginal and Treaty Rights

Asch, Michael, On Being Here to Stay: Treaties and Aboriginal Rights in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2014).

Borrows, John & Michael Coyle, eds., The Right Relationship: Reimagining the Implementation of Historical Treaties (University of Toronto Press, 2017).

Chartrand, Paul L.A.H., ed., Who Are Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples?: Recognition, Definition, and Jurisdiction (Purich Publishing, 2002).

Christie, Gordon, Canadian Law and Indigenous Self‐Determination: A Naturalist Analysis (University of Toronto Press, 2019).

Foster, Hamar, Heather Raven & Jeremy Webber, eds., Let Right Be Done: Aboriginal Title, the Calder Case and the Future of Indigenous Rights (UBC Press, 2007).

Hoehn, Felix, Reconciling Sovereignties: Aboriginal Nations and Canada (University of Saskatchewan Native Law Centre, 2012).

Johnson, Harold, Two Families: Treaties and Government (Purich Publishing, 2007).

McNeil, Kent, Flawed Precedent: The St. Catherine’s Case and Aboriginal Title (UBC Press, 2019).

Nichols, Joshua, A Reconciliation without Recollection?: An Investigation of the Foundations of Aboriginal Law in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2019).

Reynolds, Jim, Aboriginal Peoples and the Law: A Critical Introduction (UBC Press, 2018).

Reynolds, Jim, From Wardship to Rights: The Guerin Case and Aboriginal Law (UBC Press, 2020).

Indigenous Law

Borrows, John, Canada’s Indigenous Constitution (University of Toronto Press, 2010).

Borrows, John, Freedom and Indigenous Constitutionalism (University of Toronto Press, 2016).

Cameron, Angela, Sari Graben & Val Napoleon, eds., Creating Indigenous Property: Power, Rights, and Relationships (University of Toronto Press, 2020).

Craft, Aimée, Breathing Life into the Stone Fort Treaty: An Anishnabe Understanding of Treaty One (Purich Publishing, 2013).

Friedland, Hadley Louise, The Wetiko Legal Principles: Cree and Anishinabek Responses to Violence and Victimization (University of Toronto Press, 2018).

McAdam, Sylvia (Saysewahum), Nationhood Interrupted: Revitalizing nêhiyaw Legal Systems (Purich Publishing, 2015).

University of Victoria Indigenous Law Research Unit, Mikomosis and the Wetiko: A Teaching Guide for Youth, Community, and Post-Secondary Educators (University of Victoria Indigenous Law Research Unit, 2013).

International, Indigenous and Canadian Law

Borrows, John, Larry Chartrand, Oonagh E. Fitzgerald & Risa Schwartz, eds., Braiding Legal Orders: Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2019).

Drake, Karen & Brenda L. Gunn, eds., Renewing Relationships: Indigenous Peoples and Canada (University of Saskatchewan Native Law Centre, 2019).

Hartley, Jackie, Paul Joffe & Jennifer Preston, eds., Realizing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Triumph, Hope, and Action (UBC Press, 2010).

Lightfoot, Sheryl, Global Indigenous Politics: A Subtle Revolution (Routledge, 2016).

Morales, Sarah & Joshua Nichols, “Reconciliation Beyond the Box: The UN Declaration and Plurinational Federalism in Canada” (Centre for International Governance Innovation, 2018).

Aboriginal Law Case Summaries and Commentary

Borrows, John & Leonard Rotman, Aboriginal Legal Issues: Cases, Materials and Commentary, 5th edition (LexisNexis, 2018).

Decembrini, Angela D’Elia, Kate Gunn, Bruce McIvor & Shin Imai, Annotated Aboriginal Law 2021: The Constitution, Legislation, Treaties and Supreme Court of Canada Case Summaries (Thomson Reuters, 2020).

Rudin, Jonathan, Indigenous People and the Criminal Justice System: A Practitioner’s Handbook (Emond Publishing, 2018).

Commissions and Inquiries

Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019).

Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume One, Summary: Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future (2015).

Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996).

Indigenous Resurgence and Reconciliation

Adams, Howard, Prison of Grass: Canada from a Native Point of View, 2nd edition (Fifth House Books, 1989).

Akiwenzie-Damm, Kateri, et al., This Place: 150 Years Retold (HighWater Press, 2019).

Alfred, Taiaiake, Wasáse: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom (University of Toronto Press, 2005).

Asch, Michael, John Borrows & James Tully, eds., Resurgence and Reconciliation: Indigenous-Settler Relations and Earth Teachings (University of Toronto Press, 2018).

Campbell, Maria, Halfbreed (Random House of Canada, 2019).

Cardinal, Harold, The Unjust Society: The Tragedy of Canada’s Indians, 2nd edition (Douglas & McIntyre, 1999).

Coburn, Elaine, ed., More Will Sing Their Way to Freedom: Indigenous Resistance and Resurgence (Fernwood Publishing, 2015).

Coulthard, Glen Sean, Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition (University of Minnesota Press, 2014).

Green, Joyce, ed., Making Space for Indigenous Feminism (Fernwood Publishing, 2017).

Hill, Gord & Ward Churchill, The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2002).

Joseph, Bob, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality (Indigenous Relations Press, 2018).

King, Thomas, The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America (Random House of Canada, 2013).

Kino-nda-niimi Collective, ed., The Winter We Danced: Voices from the Past, the Future, and the Idle No More Movement (ARP Books, 2014).

Manuel, Arthur, Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call (Between the Lines, 2015).

Manuel, Arthur & Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson, The Reconciliation Manifesto: Recovering the Land, Rebuilding the Economy (Lorimer, 2017).

Manuel, George & Michael Posluns, The Fourth World: An Indian Reality (University of Minnesota Press, 2019).

Maracle, Lee, I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism (Press Gang, 2003).

Maracle, Lee, Bobbi Lee Indian Rebel, 2nd edition (Women’s Press, 2017).

McFarlane, Peter & Nicole Schabus, eds. Whose Land Is It Anyway?: A Manual for Decolonization (Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC, 2017).

Monture-Angus, Patricia, Thunder in My Soul: A Mohawk Woman Speaks (Brunswick Books, 1995).

Palmater, Pamela, Indigenous Nationhood: Empowering Grassroots Citizens (Fernwood Publishing, 2015).

Saul, John Ralston, The Comeback: How Aboriginals Are Reclaiming Power and Influence (Penguin Canada, 2015).

Sellars, Bev, Price Paid: The Fight for First Nations Survival (Talonbooks, 2016).

Simpson, Audra, Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life Across the Borders of Settler States (Duke University Press, 2014).

Simpson, Leanne Betasamosake, Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence, and a New Emergence (ARP Books, 2011).

Simpson, Leanne Betasamosake, As We Have Always Done: Indi...

Table of contents

• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Residential Schools and Reconciliation: A Canada Day Proposal
• Negotiate or Litigate?
• Who Are the “aboriginal peoples of Canada”?
• Indigenous Identity and Canadian Law: A Personal Journey
• A New Legal Remedy for Indigenous People
• What Does the Daniels Decision Mean?
• How to Fulfill the Duty to Consult
• The Piecemeal Infringement of Treaty Rights
• The Duty to Consult—A Second-Best Alternative
• Columbus’s Ghost: Past Infringements and the Duty to Consult
• The Groundhog Day Conundrum
• Breathing Life Back into the Duty to Consult
• The Duty to Consult—A Roadblock to Direct Action
• The Duty to Consult as an Ongoing Obligation
• The Age of Recognition: The Significance of the Tsilhqot’in Decision
• Provinces Burdened with Fulfilling Treaty Promises
• Environmental Assessments and the Duty to Consult
• Is the Duty to Consult Clear as Mud?
• Implications of the Tsilhqot’in Decision
• Canada’s Misguided Land Claims Policy
• The Duty to Consult—A Narrow Vision
• Good News for the Duty to Consult
• The Duty to Consult at the Supreme Court in 2017
• Change of Direction Required: Mikisew Cree First Nation v. Canada
• Saving the Specific Claims Tribunal: Williams Lake Indian Band v. Canada (2018)
• Treaties at Risk: The Fort McKay First Nation
• A Pipeline Too Far: The Problem with the Duty to Consult
• Reconciliation at the End of a Gun: The Wet’suwet’en and the RCMP
• The Wet’suwet’en, Aboriginal Title and the Rule of Law: An Explainer
• The Wet’suwet’en, Governments and Indigenous Peoples: A Five-Step Plan for Reconciliation
• Consent Is Not a Four-Letter Word: What Next for the Trans Mountain Pipeline?
• A Monument to Racism: BC Doubles Down on Site C Dam
• Why Quebec but Not Indigenous Appointments to the Supreme Court?
• Reconciliation as a Massive Failure
• The Case for Denying Indigenous Rights
• A Cold Rain Falls: Canada’s Proposed UNDRIP Legislation
• Colonialism’s Disciples: How Government Undermines Indigenous People
• Made of Sterner Stuff—The Problem with Allies
• How the Canadian Legal System Fails Indigenous People
• Further Reading
• Index I: General
• Index II: Court Decisions
• About the Author