780-717-8296 Angela@ICDPRO.ca

Government

Government relations

Government & Indigenous Communities Know your rights. Assert them with a plan.

How Indigenous communities can assert their rights with the government.

01

Know your rights

Learn the laws, declarations and agreements that set out your community’s rights, from UNDRIP to the TRC Calls to Action.

Read about your rights

02

Prioritize

Rank the rights your community needs to exercise in order of importance to your community’s overall needs.

03

Organize a team

Build a team or committee to plan how you will begin asserting your rights. If necessary, hire a consultant or lawyer to help you.

Department of Justice Canada

Principles respecting the Government of Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples

The Government of Canada recognizes that:

01

All relations with Indigenous peoples need to be based on the recognition and implementation of their right to self-determination, including the inherent right of self-government.

02

Reconciliation is a fundamental purpose of section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

03

The honour of the Crown guides the conduct of the Crown in all of its dealings with Indigenous peoples.

04

Indigenous self-government is part of Canada’s evolving system of cooperative federalism and distinct orders of government.

05

Treaties, agreements, and other constructive arrangements between Indigenous peoples and the Crown have been and are intended to be acts of reconciliation based on mutual recognition and respect.

06

Meaningful engagement with Indigenous peoples aims to secure their free, prior, and informed consent when Canada proposes to take actions which impact them and their rights on their lands, territories, and resources.

07

Respecting and implementing rights is essential and that any infringement of section 35 rights must by law meet a high threshold of justification which includes Indigenous perspectives and satisfies the Crown’s fiduciary obligations.

08

Reconciliation and self-government require a renewed fiscal relationship, developed in collaboration with Indigenous nations, that promotes a mutually supportive climate for economic partnership and resource development.

09

Reconciliation is an ongoing process that occurs in the context of evolving Indigenous-Crown relationships.

10

A distinctions-based approach is needed to ensure that the unique rights, interests and circumstances of the First Nations, the Métis Nation and Inuit are acknowledged, affirmed, and implemented.

From Principles respecting the Government of Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples, Department of Justice Canada.

Resources

Truth and reconciliation

TRC Calls to Action

The 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

Read the Calls to Action (PDF)

Delivering on the Calls to Action

The Government of Canada’s progress on the Calls to Action that fall under federal responsibility.

See the progress

Your rights, explained

UNDRIP, the TRC, the Charter, Indigenous law and the acts that shape your community’s relationship with government.

Know your rights

Economic growth without investment in human development is unsustainable – and unethical.

— Amartya Sen

Let’s get started

Would you like one of our team to work with you on working effectively with the government?

We’d love to hear from you. Book a free 30-minute call, or contact us and we’ll get back to you within one business day.