R V Powley
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - R V Powley
OR:
R V Powley on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

, commonly called the Powley ruling, is a
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
case defining
Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...
Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
rights under section 35(1) of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''.


Background

A
Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie is a cross-border region of Canada and the United States located on St. Marys River, which drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Founded as a single settlement in 1668, Sault Ste. Marie was divided in 1817 by the establishment of ...
father and son, Steve and Roddy Powley, were charged in 1993 with possession of a moose that they had shot out of season and without a licence. The pair pleaded not guilty on the grounds that as Métis, they had an Aboriginal right to hunt that was not subject to Ontario game laws.


Procedural history

The
Ontario Court of Justice The Ontario Court of Justice is the provincial court of record for the Canadian province of Ontario. The court sits at more than 200 locations across the province and oversees matters relating to family law, criminal law, and provincial offences. ...
agreed and dismissed the charges. The Ontario
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
appealed that decision to the
Ontario Superior Court of Justice The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...
, which upheld the acquittals and denied the appeal. The Ontario
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
appealed again, to the
Ontario Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...
, which also upheld the acquittals and denied the appeal. Finally, Ontario appealed the decision to the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
, where a unanimous court upheld the decisions of the lower courts and defined a ten-step test for Métis rights, based on modified tests from the previous Indian
Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
rights decisions in ''
R. v. Sparrow ''R v Sparrow'', 9901 S.C.R. 1075 was an important decision of the Supreme Court of Canada concerning the application of Aboriginal rights under section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Court held that Aboriginal rights, such as fishing, ...
'' and '' R. v. Van der Peet''.


Aftermath

Métis people seeking to exercise Aboriginal rights of hunting and fishing must show that the practice in question relates to the practice of a rights-bearing Métis community prior to European political and legal control and that they are members of the corresponding modern Métis community by both self-identification and acceptance within the community. Thus, if a Métis group of people established a rights-bearing community distinct from any Indian or Inuit Aboriginal groups from which it had descended, practices that the community exercised prior to European control may be Section 35(1) rights.


See also

*
The Canadian Crown and First Nations, Inuit and Métis The association between the Canadian Crown and Indigenous peoples in Canada stretches back to the first decisions between North American Indigenous peoples and European colonialists and, over centuries of interface, treaties were established c ...
* Canadian Aboriginal case law * Numbered Treaties *
Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' (, long name ''An Act to amend and consolidate the laws respecting Indians'') is a Canadian act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still ...
* Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982 * Indian Health Transfer Policy (Canada)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powley Ruling Indigenous rights in Canada Canadian Aboriginal case law Métis in Canada 2003 in Canadian case law Métis in Ontario