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“Culture and the Courts” Revisited: Group-Rights Scholarship and the Evolution of s.35(1)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2009

Caroline Dick
Caroline Dick*
Affiliation:
The University of Western Ontario
*
Caroline Dick, Department of Political Science, The University of Western Ontario, London ONCanada, N6A 5C2, cdick4@uwo.ca.
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Abstract

Abstract. In revisiting Michael Murphy's critique of the cultural test adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada to interpret Aboriginal rights, this article takes up the suggestion that the works of Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka support an inherent understanding of Aboriginal rights. An assessment of the jurisprudence suggests that the Court's approach reflects, rather than contradicts, Taylor's and Kymlicka's rights frameworks, which invoke the same discourse of culture and identity embraced by the Court. The article also contends that the role played by culture in Canada's Aboriginal rights jurisprudence extends well beyond the cultural rationale adopted by the Court.

Résumé. En revisitant la critique de Michael Murphy sur l'examen culturel adopté par la Court Suprême du Canada dans l'interprétation des droits indigènes, cet article adopte la suggestion que les travaux de Charles Taylor et Kymlicka supportent une définition inhérente des droits indigènes. Une évaluation de la jurisprudence suggère que la position de la cour reflète, plutôt que contredit, l'approche des droits mise en avant par Taylor et Kymlicka. Celle-ci, en effet accepte le même discours culturel et identitaire que la court. L'article affirme également que le rôle joué par la culture dans la jurisprudence Canadienne sur les droits indigènes se prolonge bien au delà du raisonnement culturel adopté par la court.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 42 , Issue 4 , December 2009 , pp. 957 - 979
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2009

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