The Honour of the Crown and its Fiduciary Duties to Aboriginal Peoples

The fundamental objective of the modern law concerning Aboriginal people of Canada is reconciliation. Recent jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Canada has identified the honour of the Crown and its fiduciary duties as legal concepts at the heart of the reconciliation imperative. The Court has held that the honour of the Crown is "a core precept that finds its application in concrete practices" and that "where the Crown has assumed discretionary control over specific Aboriginal interests, the honour of the Crown gives rise to a fiduciary duty."

The Honour of the Crown and its Fiduciary Duties to Aboriginal Peoples is the first and only book to comprehensively present these central doctrines of Aboriginal law in Canada. It seeks to systematically order and organize the law as it has been articulated by the Supreme Court and further shaped by other courts, thereby clarifying the interrelations characteristic of the doctrines and providing a sure grasp of their origins, scope and practical effects.

The author, J. Timothy S. McCabe, brings more than 25 years experience as counsel for Aboriginal law in Ontario, including numerous appearances in appeals and constitutional interventions in the Supreme Court of Canada, to bear in bringing clarity and understanding to this crucial area of the law.

Comprehensive, Insightful, Authoritative

The text comprises five thorough chapters, with exhaustive citations and documentation for all points of discussion, including:

• The law to 1982, the effect of the Constitution Act, 1982, and development of the law after April 17, 1982
• The relation between the two doctrines, distinguishing them from one another, and treating their respective amenability to legislation
• The honour of the Crown, setting out its several applications in the law as it has emerged, and thoroughly presenting the law of consultation and accommodation of Aboriginal rights in lands sought to be developed
• The Crown's fiduciary duties to Aboriginal people, both with respect to s. 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 and in civil liability and proceedings about land and other Aboriginal rights, including treatment of the measure of the Crown's conduct, variation of a trust arising from an earlier surrender, remedies for breach, and defences
• Section 91.24 of the Constitution Act, 1867 and the resulting position of the federal and provincial Crowns respectively in relation to the honour of the Crown and its fiduciary duties to Aboriginal people in Canada.

Who Should Buy

• Aboriginal law practitioners - who litigate or advise concerning claims of Aboriginal interests
• Energy and resources law, and land development practitioners - who advise and act for developers of forestry, fossil fuel, mining and real estate resources and associated infrastructure, on lands subject to Aboriginal interests or claims, in the matter of the legally required consultation and accommodation; and investors in such developments
• Crown counsel and officers of the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, and local governments in Canada - who are involved in policy developments and mediation or negotiation with Aboriginal peoples and First Nations
• First Nations, Band Administrators and Councils, and officers of Aboriginal governments and organizations - who are charged of advocating and protecting Aboriginal rights
• Aboriginal law scholars and students - who need to resort to a seminal reference on this evolving area of law