The speaker will address his experience serving on the federal Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), providing insights into the work of the commission including its public hearings. The approach and major recommendations of the RCAP will be elaborated in comparison with subsequent government policies and law and in comparison with current government policy statements and approaches. The issue of judicial development and interpretation of law pertaining to indigenous people outside the federal Indian Act will be considered in light of contemporary political action and litigation including the Daniels case.
Paul Chartrand, Indigenous Peoples’ Counsel (IPC) of Canada’s Indigenous Bar Association is a former Professor of Law. He is the author of numerous publications about the law and policy of states respecting indigenous peoples. He is currently writing a book that is critical of the judicial development of Metis rights, and practices law part-time. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Manitoba’s Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission and Canada’s Aboriginal Healing Foundation.