Aboriginal+rights6

Canada's [|1930 Constitution Act] or [|Natural Resources Transfer Acts] was part of a shift acknowledging indigenous rights. It enabled provincial control of [|Crown land] and allowed Provincial laws regulating game to apply to Indians, but it also ensured that "Indians shall have the right ... of hunting, trapping and fishing game and fish for food at all seasons of the year on all unoccupied Crown lands and on any other lands to which the said Indians may have a right of access." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations However, u p until the late 1960’s, Canadian Aboriginals were generally located on the fringes of policy-making that would affect their lands, resources and environment due to their limited rights. The shift in Aboriginal involvement began in the 1960’s when they were granted to the [|right to vote], which also enabled them to organize politically, and retain lawyers to pursue land claims. In 1966 the [|Hawthorn report], a federally funded study of the conditions of status Indians, advocated an approach towards Aboriginals that would allow greater political activism. This political activism was waged in 1969 when the [|White Paper] on Indian policy was published by the federal government in 1969, the paper suggested winding down the Indian Act. After concerted and determined Aboriginal protest, the White report was withdrawn two years later. When the United Nations formed, there came to be an International stage for Canadian Aboriginals to voice their concerns. The [|Universal Declaration of Human Rights] and the International [|Labour Organization’s Convention on Indigenous Peoples] allowed for greater leverage. Since 1973, there have been partial victories for the Aboriginals in the Canadian courts in regards to land claims and rights to controlling land and resources such as in the cases [|R. v Sparrow] and [|R v Guerin]. Aboriginal rights to resources strengthened over time and then in 1982 they were legally cemented into the [|Constitution Act] in which there is distinct recognition of Aboriginal rights in sections 25 and 35. These changes to the Charter of Rights guarantee that certain rights and freedoms will remain consistent with any aboriginal treaty, rights or freedoms that pertain to those recognized by the [|Royal Proclamations of October 7, 1763] and any rights or freedoms that have been acquired via land claim settlements.
 * Aboriginal Rights**


 * Aboriginal Rights and The Great Whale Project**

The James Bay Cree and Northern Inuit were in strong opposition to the Great Whale Project (Phase II). Section 25 of the Charter of Rights (Constitution Act) enabled the Cree and Inuit to politically align themselves against Hydro-Quebec and the provincial government. The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA), devised in 1975, entitled the Native people living in the James Bay region to substantial roles in environmental assessment. In defense of their rights, they pressed legal action against its development on the basis that the Great Whale Project would cause considerable damage to the environment and thus to the rights and interests of the First Nations people who reside there. In 1989 the Cree launch their first, of many, law suit to block project. Because of complex legal proceedings, the review process for the project was lengthened by years. In the interim several billion dollars lost in cancellation of purchase contracts and in 1994 the project was shelved indefinitely.