Law Cases | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Delgamuukw Case

    The Delgamuukw case (1997) (also known as Delgamuukw v. British Columbia) concerned the definition, the content and the extent of Aboriginal title (i.e., ownership of traditional lands). The Supreme Court of Canada observed that Aboriginal title constituted an ancestral right protected by section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. Influenced by the Calder case (1973), the ruling in the Delgamuukw case had an impact on other court cases about Aboriginal rights and title, including in the Tsilhqot’in case (2014).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/Twitter_Cards/supreme court-1.jpg Delgamuukw Case
  • Article

    Doctrine of Discovery

    The Doctrine of Discovery refers to a set of international legal principles largely developed between the 15th and 16th centuries. At its core, the Doctrine maintains that upon discovery of new lands, European nations could acquire the territory and sovereignty over it. However, the territory had to be unknown to Europeans, unoccupied by a Christian prince or inhabited by people Europeans considered “uncivilized.” It serves as the basis of sovereignty for settler nations, such as Canada and the United States. Settler nations are countries with an Indigenous population, but whose government and cultural norms were established by people who moved there from other countries. In addition, the Doctrine created conditions for the legal, political and economic dispossession and subjugation of Indigenous peoples globally.

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    https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Doctrine of Discovery
  • Article

    Dominion Police

    The Dominion Police was originally a small protective force organized by the federal government in 1868 to guard the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa following the assassination of Thomas D'Arcy McGee.

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    Dubin Inquiry

    Following the drug scandal at the 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES in Seoul, when Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for steroids, the federal government established the Commission of Inquiry Into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Dubin Inquiry
  • Article

    Gerald Stanley Case

    On 9 February 2018, Gerald Stanley, a white farmer in rural Saskatchewan, was acquitted of murder and manslaughter in the killing of Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man. The acquittal caused great controversy but was not appealed by prosecutors. However, it led the Justin Trudeau government to abolish peremptory challenges, which allowed Stanley’s legal team to keep five Indigenous people off the all-white jury that acquitted him. In 2021, an investigation conducted by a civilian watchdog concluded that that the RCMP was insensitive and racially discriminatory toward Boushie’s mother, and that the police mishandled witnesses and evidence. A Globe and Mail investigation also found that the RCMP “destroyed records of police communications from the night Colten Boushie died.”

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Gerald Stanley Case
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    Guerin Case

    The Guerin case (R. v. Guerin) resulted in a pivotal decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1984 about Indigenous rights. It centred on the fiduciary (guardian or trustee) responsibility of the Crown to consult openly and honestly with Indigenous peoples before making arrangements for the use of their land. (See also Duty to Consult.) For the first time, it established that the Crown has a legal responsibility to First Nations and not simply a moral one. It also recognized Aboriginal title to their land to be a sui generis (Latin for “unique”) right.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/787b0637-ecea-46b2-bdd4-801e175a39b3.jpg Guerin Case
  • Article

    Highway of Tears

    The Highway of Tears refers to a 724 km length of Yellowhead Highway 16 in British Columbia where many women (mostly Indigenous) have disappeared or been found murdered. The Highway of Tears is part of a larger, national crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. In 2015, the federal government launched a national inquiry into these cases. This article contains sensitive material that may not be suitable for all audiences.

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  • Article

    Keegstra Case

    Jim Keegstra was a secondary school teacher in rural Alberta who taught anti-Semitic propaganda to his students. He was charged with a hate crime in 1984 and was found guilty in 1985. However, Keegstra launched repeated appeals arguing that the Criminal Code violated his constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression. The landmark case (R. v. Keegstra) tested the balance between the right to freedom of speech outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the law’s limits on hate speech stipulated in the Criminal Code. The case came before the Supreme Court of Canada in 1990 and 1996. The Court ultimately ruled against Keegstra by deciding that Canada’s hate laws imposed a “reasonable limit” on a person’s freedom of expression.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/7ac02b0f-118b-4ccb-b6dc-81f218b68954.jpg Keegstra Case
  • Article

    Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster

    In the early morning of 6 July 2013, a runaway train hauling 72 tankers filled with crude oil derailed as it approached the centre of the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. The tanker cars exploded and the oil caught fire, killing 47 people and destroying many buildings and other infrastructure in the town centre. The fourth deadliest railway disaster in Canadian history, the derailment led to changes in rail transport safety rules as well as legal action against the company and employees involved in the incident. Years after the derailment, re-building was still ongoing and many of the town’s residents continued to suffer from post-traumatic stress.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/Lac-Mégantic_Rail_Disaster/First responders.jpg Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster
  • Article

    Law Enforcement

    Law Enforcement refers to the application or threat of legally permitted sanctions to induce compliance with legal rules.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Law Enforcement
  • Article

    Maggie Vail Murder Case

    In September 1869, berry pickers in Saint John, New Brunswick, discovered the remains of an adult and a child hidden in some bushes. The bodies were soon identified as belonging to Sarah Margaret “Maggie” Vail and her infant daughter, Ella May. Later that month, architect John A. Munroe was charged with the murder of Vail, with whom he had an affair. Although his lawyer argued that Munroe was incapable of murder given his education and social standing — an early example of the “character” defence — he was convicted in December 1869. Munroe eventually confessed to the murders and was executed in February 1870.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/Maggie Vail Memorial Nov 2013.JPG Maggie Vail Murder Case
  • Article

    Maintiens le Droit

    Maintiens le Droit [Fr, "Uphold the Right"], the official motto of the ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE. The use of the motto by the NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE was first advocated in 1873 and adopted 2 years later.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Maintiens le Droit
  • Article

    Marshall Case

    The Marshall case is a landmark ruling in Indigenous treaty rights in Canada. The case centres on Donald Marshall Jr., a Mi’kmaq man from Membertou, Nova Scotia. In August 1993, Marshall caught and sold 210 kg of eel with an illegal net and without a licence during closed-season times. He was arrested after being charged under the federal Fisheries Act and the Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations. In Marshall’s court case, R. v. Marshall, he was found guilty on all three charges in provincial court (1996) and appeals court (1997). The Supreme Court of Canada reversed Marshall’s convictions in September 1999. The Supreme Court recognized the hunting and fishing rights promised in the Peace and Friendship Treaties. These treaties were signed between the British and the Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik and Peskotomuhkati in 1760–61.

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  • Article

    Marshall Inquiry

    The Marshall Inquiry was a Royal Commission called by the Government of Nova Scotia. It investigated the 1971 wrongful murder conviction of Mi’kmaq man Donald Marshall Jr. of Nova Scotia. This was the first inquiry of its kind in Canada. The commission released its report on 26 January 1990. It made recommendations that changed the criminal justice system in Nova Scotia, particularly in its treatment of Indigenous peoples.

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  • Article

    McIvor Case

    The McIvor v. Canada case was about gender discrimination in section 6 of the 1985 Indian Act, which deals with Indian status. Sharon McIvor — a woman who regained status rights after the passing of Bill C-31 in 1985 — was not able to pass on those rights to her descendants in the same way that a man with status could. In her case against the federal government, the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that section 6 did, in fact, deny McIvor’s equality rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In response to this case, the federal government introduced new legislation (Bill C-3) in 2011 to counter gender discrimination in the Indian Act.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/McIvorCase/McIvor.jpg McIvor Case