(Ottawa) The Atikamekw Nation of Opitciwan will be able to continue to manage its own youth protection system. In a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court rejected the argument of the Quebec government which considered that Bill C-92 encroached on its jurisdiction. This is a crucial decision for Indigenous communities across the country.
“Nothing prevents Parliament from affirming that indigenous peoples have jurisdiction to adopt laws relating to child and family services,” writes the highest court in the country. “Contrary to what the Attorney General of Quebec argues, the Canadian “constitutional architecture” is in no way shaken. »
The Supreme Court therefore concludes that the law is constitutional as a whole, contrary to the Quebec Court of Appeal. She considered that the An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families respected the Constitution except for an article and a paragraph which gave primacy to indigenous legislation regarding child protection over federal and provincial laws. The federal government thus delegates powers to the communities. However, Parliament can choose to give the same force of law to indigenous legislation under the Constitution Act of 1867concludes the Supreme Court.
She insists that Bill C-92 “represents significant progress” for reconciliation with First Nations, that it is part of the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and that it responds to one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls for action to establish national standards for Indigenous child protection.
“Considered in its entirety, the Act has the bona fide character of protecting the well-being of Aboriginal children, youth and families by promoting the provision of culturally appropriate child and family services and, in doing so, contributing to to the process of reconciliation with indigenous peoples,” she emphasizes.
The nine justices of the Supreme Court had heard the case, but Russell Brown, who resigned in June, did not participate in writing the judgment.
The Legault government objected to the fact that federal law “affirms the inherent right to self-government of indigenous peoples.” In his argument before the Court of Appeal, he indicated that C-92 “usurps the role of the courts and unilaterally creates a third order of government in Canada.”
The Legault government’s choice to challenge federal law has also cast a chill in its relations with the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador.
The law, which came into force in January 2020, recognizes the right of Indigenous, Inuit and Métis people to determine their child protection practices. The Atikamekw nation of Opitciwan, in Mauricie, was the first to take advantage of it in Quebec two years ago. Its council adopted its own law to free itself from the Directorate of Youth Protection (DPJ), which constituted a step towards its self-determination. This is a model that has proven itself as reported The Press in January.
In Quebec, nine indigenous communities, including the Innu of Uashat mak Mani-utenam, near Sept-Îles, have filed a notice of intention to adopt their own law under C-92.
With Fanny Lévesque, The Press