Right to proactively use and manage the land
There is at least general agreement on one point: the old ways of doing business are over. This is due to the Supreme Court of Canada’s Tsilhqot’in ruling in June 2104, which affirmed that consent consultation is “not merely a right of first refusal with respect to Crown land management or usage plans. Rather, it is a right to proactively use and manage the land.”
The challenge seems to be in understanding what Canada’s Indigenous peoples want, and how to work with them to meet their needs.
A good place to start is by absorbing the Tsilhqot’in ruling statement that aboriginal title is “collective title held not only for the present generation but for all succeeding generations. This means it cannot be alienated except to the Crown or encumbered in ways that would prevent future generations of the group from using and enjoying it. Nor can the land be developed or misused in a way that would substantially deprive future generations of the benefit of the land.”
Understanding this principle is crucial to seeing the way forward being offered by a growing number of Indigenous communities who are taking the initiative to hasten the end of others making and imposing all the regulations by creating “on-the-land” solutions to accompany the increasing body of Indigenous policies and laws.
On-the-land programs can be used to ensure areas are protected for their natural bounty, beauty, and environmental importance or that resource development areas are worked with great planning and care, and properly monitored and controlled.