Twenty years since Haida: Where we have come and where we are going

By Imran Kamal ( April 24, 2024, 1:43 PM EDT) -- It has now been 20 years since the Supreme Court of Canada released its monumental decision in Haida Nation v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests), 2004 SCC 73, which formally established the duty to consult and accommodate. The Supreme Court explained that Aboriginal rights guaranteed by s. 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 (s 35(1), being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c 11) come with a procedural duty to consult and accommodate on the Crown (Haida at para. 32). The Supreme Court stated in Haida that the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate Indigenous peoples is based on the fundamental principle of the honour of the Crown, which is put into effect by specific actions....