Chapter 4
Collective Rights
To what extent has Canada
affirmed collective rights?
Terms to Know:
• Terms Handout
Aboriginal rights: stem from a custom, a practice or a
tradition that characterizes the culture of an Aboriginal
group. This right had to exist prior to the contact with the
Europeans; it is most often associated with a territorial
occupation since that period. Moreover, the courts have
ruled that an Aboriginal nation present on a territory when
the Europeans arrived—and that has continued to frequent
the territory ever since—has specific rights on that territory,
known as “Aboriginal rights.”
Treaty rights: are special rights to lands and entitlements
that First Nations people legally have as a result of treaties
signed with the Queen and Canadian government; rights
protected under section 35 of the Constitution.
Lets Think:
• What is collective rights ?
• What groups in Canada are recognized in the
charter as having collective rights?
• Why is Canada the only country in the world
that has collective rights for specific groups set
out in it constitution?
• Why are collective rights important to all
Canadians?
• FAQ, pg 122
What Laws Recognize the Collective
Rights of First Nations peoples?
• We will talk about legislation that affects the
collective rights of First Nations peoples
▫ Numbered treaties and how they have been
interpreted
▫ Modern treaties
▫ The goals of the Indian Act
▫ The changing Indian Act
Numbered Treaties
• Historic agreements that affect the rights and
identity of some First Nation groups in Canada
• They have roots in royal proclamation of 1763.
Britain sought to establish control over lands
they had just claimed from France
• The proclamation recognized First Nations
rights to the land and established the principles
for making treaties through peaceful negotiation
• Numbered treaties were agreements between the
Queen and First Nations
• First nations agreed to share their lands and
resources
• The government of Canada agreed to terms
covering first nations education, reserves,
annuities, and other matters
Why?
• Why did First Nations in the west and Canada
negotiate the numbered treaties?
• Read pg. 126
• Canada wanted to build a railway
• Both sides wanted to avoid war.
• First nations wanted to secure their future
Houston we have a problem….
• So if both parties agreed on these treaties then
there should be no problem right? wrong
• Canada’s government believes First Nations gave
up their land under the treaty. First Nations
disagree
▫ First nations people at the time did not think of
land as something anyone could own or give up
• First nations recorded the treaties in their oral
histories in their own language
• Canada’s government recorded the treaties in
writing in english
▫ The oral and written records disagree on key
aspects
The Indian Act
• The Indian Act demonstrated something
important about the way the Canadian
Government understood treaty rights
• Video
• The Numbered Treaties confirmed the Canadian
Governments duty to protect rights of First
nations. Under the act, the federal government is
able to develop specific policies and programs to
administer treaty rights
• The act created officials for each reserve, “Indian
Agents”, who had the power to decide how the
government would full fill its duties
▫ This meant that there were many interpretations of
what treaty rights meant on a case by case basis
▫ Why would this be a problem?
• The Indian Act dates back to 1876, at that time the
Canadian Government thought it was appropriate
to make laws for first Nations without consulting
them
▫ Ethnocentrism-the belief that your culture and way
of doing things is better then others
• The Act Defines who may be registered as a
“status Indian” with treaty rights. This meant that
the government, not the First Nations themselves
made all the decisions
▫ The Indian act was, and still is a way for the
government to administer treaty rights
• The act originally aimed to assimilate First
nations peoples
• It defined how first nations had to govern
themselves
• At points in history it restricted the way they
could dress, travel, and protest
• Until 1960, in order for a First Nations person to
be able to vote they had to give up their treaty
rights
• The act has been revised several times and
remains in force today
• Based on what you now know, how do you feel
about the Indian Act?
• What does the Indian Act violate? (hint we
talked about it last chapter)
• Read the Article on page 138
• What should be done about the Indian Act
today?
▫ What do First nations think should be done?
▫ What does the Gov think needs to happen?
• Complete the “two views” worksheet
What Collective Rights do Official
Language Groups have Under the
Charter?
We will be exploring…..
• What are the collective rights of Francophone's
and Anglophones in the charter of rights and
freedoms?
• How do their collective rights affect their quality
of life?
• What are the background in regards to the
history of the rights of Canada’s official language
communities.
• You have moved to a foreign country and, upon
your arrival, you realise that you are the only
person of your ethnic, cultural, religious and
language group to be seen. The country is not
racist or discriminatory; you are accepted as part
of the community. What will this feel like? How
might this affect your daily activities? How will
this impact your quality of life?
What are Official Language Minorities?
• Explore the map on pg. 142
• Lets discuss the question on the bottom of the
page
• Read pg 143 and 144
• What do these two students have in common?
• How do their collective rights affect their quality
of life?
• How do Rachel and Devin represent the
concerns of a minority language speaker?
What are the Charter Rights of Official
Language groups?
• Official Bilingualism
▫ Section 16 to 20 of the charter establishes French
and English as the official languages of Canada
▫ Both languages have the right to conduct affairs
with the federal government in either official
language
▫ New Brunswick is an officially bilingual province
• Minority Speaking Education Rights
▫ Section 23 of the charter states that any minority
speaking population of sufficient size has the right
to publicly funded schools that serve their
language community
 Ex. Beaumont, Alberta
The History of Francophone's in
Canada
• 1608- Samuel de Champlain founds Quebec City
and establishes New France
• 1774-Britain passes the Quebec act, recognizing
the rights of Francophone's
• 1867-Confederation establishes Canada as a
bilingual nation
• 1969- Official languages act reasserts the equality
of French and English in Canada
• 1982-Charter of rights and freedoms confirms
official bilingualism
How has the Charter affected
Francophone Education?
• Rights for francophone's and Anglophones are
what made confederation possible
• Under the BNA act in 1867, confederation
established Canada as a bilingual nation
• It guaranteed public money for minority schools
everywhere in Canada
▫ Protestant/English School in Quebec
▫ Catholic/French school in the rest of Canada
Pg 147
• The Manitoba School Act
• Haultain Resolution and North-West Territories
Ordinance Number 22
▫ In what way did these acts call the founding
principles of confederation into Question?
Language Minority Education Today
• When Trudeau established the Canadian
Constitution in 1982, he used it as an
opportunity to restore the education rights of
minorities
• The results can be seen in the chart on pg 148
• How has section 23 (huh, what's this?) impacted
minority education across Canada?
• How does the chart on p. 148 convey the impact
of section 23 of the Charter?
Bill 101 – Charte de la Langue
Francaise
• In 1977, the provincial government of Quebec
passed Bill 101 to establish rules to protect the
French language in Quebec
• This law affirmed the French language as
essential to the identity of Francophones
• It made the French language the official
language of business, government and education
in Quebec
Bill 101
• Bill 101 is Official
• Bill 101 – 5 Years Later
• Bill 101 – 20th Anniversary
• How has Bill 101 Affected Anglophones in Quebec?
• How has Bill 101 served to Protect the rights and
Identity of Francophones in Quebec?
• Read the chart on pg 150 and complete the
worksheet (Bill 101 and the Canadian CRF)
What laws recognize the collective
rights of the Métis?
Terms you should already know..
• Métis – descendents of mixed First Nations and
European (mainly French) heritage
• Inherent rights – rights with origins in
fundamental justice; rights associated with
history or tradition
• Scrip – a document that could be exchanged by
the Métis for land
• Autonomy – authority to make decisions
Métis Rights…how did they get where
they are today?
• Read pgs 153 to 158 and create a timeline for
yourself in your notes
For each event state:
1. Date
2. What Happened
3. Why it was important
Louis Riel- a Father of Confederation
• Louis Riel led the Northwest resistance which ended
in military conflict between the Métis government
and the Canadian government
• The Canadian Government did not respond to the
Métis Request petitions for land and collective rights
• Louis Riel is considered the founder of Manitoba
• Louis Riel was hung for treason in 1885
• Many Anglophones agreed with the sentence, while
many francophones opposed and saw it as a betrayal
to French/English alliance
Pre-Test Questions
• This worksheet is meant to help you study for
the exam. The greater detail you can answer the
questions, the better shape you’ll be in for the
test