Juno News - August 20, 2025


Do special Indigenous legal privileges conflict with the rule of law？


Episode Stats

Length

12 minutes

Words per Minute

149.76485

Word Count

1,847

Sentence Count

104


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 A Canadian law professor is advocating for an end to heritage-based legal rights for
00:00:09.840 Indigenous people in Canada, saying it conflicts with a free society and the rule of law.
00:00:15.400 A Vancouver bylaw will fine homeowners for not registering their
00:00:18.880 wood-burning fireplaces and stoves with the city.
00:00:22.680 Air Canada flight attendants, represented by Coop National, have ended their three-day strike,
00:00:28.360 which had grounded flights last week.
00:00:30.960 Hello Canada, it's Wednesday, August 20th, and this is the True North Daily Brief.
00:00:34.900 I'm Cosmin Jirja.
00:00:36.260 I'm Alex Oltan.
00:00:37.480 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.
00:00:40.300 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.
00:00:48.560 A Canadian law professor is advocating for an end to special legal rights for Indigenous people in
00:00:54.260 Canada, citing that lineage-based privileges conflict with a free society and the rule of law.
00:00:59.540 In a commentary published August 15th in the National Post, Bruce Pardee, a professor at
00:01:04.540 Queen's University, said Indigenous rights enshrined in the Constitution represent a return to outdated
00:01:10.200 ideas where legal status depends on ancestry.
00:01:13.940 Pardee wrote, quote,
00:01:15.160 The piece comes amid recent court decisions highlighting tensions over Indigenous land claims
00:01:29.780 and private property rights.
00:01:31.880 British Columbia Supreme Court judge ruled last month that the Cowichan First Nation holds
00:01:37.080 Aboriginal title over 800 acres of government land in Richmond, B.C.
00:01:41.480 The decision stated Aboriginal title is a, quote, prior and senior right to fee simple title,
00:01:48.140 potentially overriding public or private ownership.
00:01:51.420 If upheld on appeal, the ruling could threaten property security in areas with Aboriginal title
00:01:56.560 claims, including B.C. and New Brunswick, parties said.
00:02:00.400 In a separate November decision, a New Brunswick King's bench judge suggested that successful
00:02:05.360 Indigenous land claims might lead to government expropriation of private property to transfer it
00:02:10.780 to Indigenous groups.
00:02:12.800 Pardee described these outcomes as logical extensions of Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence
00:02:17.720 on Indigenous law, which he said aligns with deeply held Canadian views on special status
00:02:22.760 for Indigenous people under Section 35 of the Constitution.
00:02:26.940 Alex, could you elaborate a little bit on Pardee's points about how Indigenous ancestry-based rights
00:02:35.280 or lineage-based privileges, as he calls them, conflict with operating as a democratic society governed
00:02:44.180 by the rule of law?
00:02:45.440 So I think that party makes several very convincing and compelling arguments in his article,
00:02:52.120 which was published in the National Post.
00:02:53.760 And amongst them, what he says is that the granting of Aboriginal title to folks based off of their
00:03:03.320 lineage or their heritage is in contravention of equality under the law, which is a principle
00:03:12.080 of the West, that we're all treated equally under the law.
00:03:16.200 Interestingly enough, in Canada, under Section 35, we're not treated equally.
00:03:20.320 And I suppose that's something that he's decrying and that this decision from a B.C. Supreme
00:03:27.500 Court judge after what is being described as the longest trial in Canadian history, it echoes
00:03:34.220 the fact that we are not treated equally under the law.
00:03:37.040 He also makes another interesting point, which is that land disputes are not unique to Canada.
00:03:43.100 They exist everywhere.
00:03:44.480 For instance, you know, if you look in Europe, you can see there's a war between Ukraine and
00:03:50.340 Russia over a land dispute.
00:03:52.160 Transcarpathia is an area in Eastern Europe that is traditionally occupied by Hungarians,
00:03:57.160 but it was transferred to Ukrainians, you know, more than a century ago now.
00:04:02.160 So you could apply this logic to virtually anywhere on Earth and you could have these land disputes.
00:04:07.380 And again, to party's point, I think that they are contradictory towards the basic principles
00:04:13.840 of private property inequality of people under the law.
00:04:21.640 Vancouver homeowners with wood-burning fireplaces and stoves must register them with the local
00:04:25.920 government or risk fines up to $500.
00:04:28.820 The Metro Vancouver bylaw is being pushed by environmental regulators and takes effect on
00:04:33.360 September 15th.
00:04:34.440 The regional district says smoke from residential wood-burning is the largest source of fine
00:04:38.940 particulate matter in the region.
00:04:41.060 Julie Saxon, Metro Vancouver's air quality manager, said the policy is not designed to
00:04:45.520 eliminate fireplaces or stoves outright, but to bring standards in line with modern emission levels.
00:04:50.740 She told CBC News, quote,
00:04:52.480 We're not trying to ban this activity.
00:04:54.180 We're trying to introduce lower emissions to reduce the effects on people's health.
00:04:57.860 Metro Vancouver estimates there are tens of thousands of fireplaces and stoves still in
00:05:01.900 operation across the region, potentially as many as $100,000.
00:05:05.480 The district says residential burning accounts for about a quarter of the area's particulate
00:05:09.360 emissions, even as stricter regulations have reduced pollution from other sources such as
00:05:14.140 industry, marine shipping, and heavy-duty vehicles.
00:05:17.120 Residents will be required to register appliances located within the urban containment boundary,
00:05:22.560 and officials say enforcement will begin with education and outreach.
00:05:25.620 Repeat offenders may face a $500 fine.
00:05:29.140 Exemptions will be allowed for low-income households or those facing emergencies.
00:05:34.900 So, Cosman, have there been any other instances of what critics might call government overreach
00:05:39.460 in pursuit of climate action in BC?
00:05:41.780 And what about the rest of Canada?
00:05:43.820 Well, absolutely.
00:05:44.560 And it's not just BC.
00:05:45.860 It's everywhere, particularly Quebec.
00:05:48.840 But this is all just part of the creep, the bureaucratic creep and expansion of power under the guise
00:05:56.840 of climate change activism and advocacy.
00:06:00.240 Here we have the government essentially saying you have to register a piece of your property.
00:06:07.080 I mean, you already registered your home.
00:06:09.200 They know where you live.
00:06:10.060 But they want to tally up how many wood-burning stoves or fireplaces there are.
00:06:16.220 And this is how it begins.
00:06:19.300 They start by saying, oh, we're just trying to inform the public and educate people.
00:06:24.800 But they leave the door open for fines.
00:06:27.860 And when you have legislation like this set up, the government can essentially gather all
00:06:32.520 that data and use that information for other purposes or if they want to go further.
00:06:39.240 And past experiences have shown that they do go further.
00:06:42.780 Or potentially even fining people just for owning these things.
00:06:48.220 But that's not the case right now.
00:06:49.920 But we have seen moves to even eliminate things like natural gas heating in Vancouver.
00:06:56.560 So last year, Vancouver City Council actually upheld the ban on natural gas heating for new
00:07:03.220 homes.
00:07:03.680 Even though Mayor Ken Sim and other councillors were opposed to the idea, the ban was upheld.
00:07:11.000 So this just sets a precedent.
00:07:13.840 And the government, especially when they're driven by climate activists, they ignore the
00:07:20.860 public pushback because it wasn't only the public in Vancouver that was pushing back against
00:07:25.880 a natural gas ban.
00:07:27.540 It's also developers, builders, etc.
00:07:30.960 It makes things more expensive, first of all, to develop property.
00:07:35.220 Natural gas heating is actually a pretty cheap way to heat your home.
00:07:40.140 And arguably, it's a better and more environmentally friendly way to heat your home than other
00:07:48.120 options.
00:07:49.120 But this has been a trend, right?
00:07:50.780 So Vancouver, they've been pushing to ban natural gas since, I think, back to 2016.
00:07:56.360 And they eventually achieved that.
00:07:59.240 There's also been pushes in Montreal where they've pushed to ban natural gas in new homes,
00:08:06.380 but also other Quebec municipalities.
00:08:09.360 So definitely, it's very widespread.
00:08:11.300 The strike by Air Canada flight attendants, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees
00:08:21.440 National, has ended after three days of grounded flights.
00:08:24.800 The National Public Workers Union announced Tuesday that flight attendants at Air Canada
00:08:29.520 and Air Canada Rouge have reached a tentative agreement.
00:08:33.440 This comes just days after Prime Minister Mark Carney's government, through Jobs Minister
00:08:38.020 Paddy Hajdu, declared the flight attendants strike unlawful and directed the Canada Industrial
00:08:43.660 Relations Board to force arbitration.
00:08:46.420 On Monday, Hajdu said ideally the two parties would reach an agreement without forced arbitration.
00:08:52.240 COOP leadership vowed to stay on the picket line, even if it meant facing arrest, charges,
00:08:57.100 and fines.
00:08:58.180 Details of the agreement are not yet available to members, but unions are advising their membership
00:09:02.780 to return to work and resume operations.
00:09:05.580 According to COOP Ontario, the union worked from 7 p.m. Monday to 4.23 a.m. to reach the
00:09:11.220 deal with the help of the union's chief mediator, William Kaplan, whom both parties agreed to
00:09:16.920 as a mediator.
00:09:18.400 Air Canada similarly released a statement Tuesday morning confirming that the strike has ended
00:09:23.000 and a tentative agreement reached.
00:09:25.520 The airline announced flights are scheduled for Tuesday evening, but warned customers that
00:09:29.880 it could take 7 to 10 days to return to full regular service as aircraft and crew are out
00:09:36.120 of position.
00:09:37.400 Some flights might be cancelled during that 10-day window.
00:09:41.140 So Alex, just from observing the media and public conversation around this issue, do you
00:09:47.680 suppose that there's public backing behind the government's decision to send airline workers
00:09:53.540 back to work?
00:09:55.000 It's a mixed bag.
00:09:56.760 So I would say that the vast majority of the public is probably in favour of them going
00:10:02.200 back to work under any circumstances because they were actually deemed not essential workers,
00:10:08.420 but flight attendants are essential workers effectively because planes can't operate without them.
00:10:15.620 And especially in a country as big as Canada, people rely very heavily on the airlines.
00:10:21.640 That being said, I think that people were also very much in favour of what the workers were
00:10:28.960 bargaining for, which is the right to be paid for all of their work and to be compensated
00:10:35.180 fairly for the work that they do.
00:10:37.440 I think that there's a few reasons why there was so much sympathy, if you will, for the Air
00:10:42.980 Canada employees.
00:10:44.120 One is that largely people really don't like the institution.
00:10:48.240 Air Canada is not a particularly popular corporation in Canada, and they have what many people would
00:10:54.300 consider, I think quite rightly, to be an unfair market share.
00:10:58.080 With regards to Canadian aviation, they are also not really well-renowned for their customer service
00:11:05.780 or their reliability.
00:11:07.680 And also, you saw a lot of bipartisan support.
00:11:10.500 So you saw folks like Pierre Polyev and also Michelle Rempel-Garner, both advocating on behalf
00:11:16.440 of the workers, as well as Don Davies and the regular NDP crowd, who are typically in favour
00:11:23.200 of unions during these types of negotiations.
00:11:26.380 So I would say that it is a mixed bag.
00:11:29.220 I don't think that people are happy with the fact that the government interfered in the bargaining,
00:11:34.860 especially as early as they did.
00:11:36.600 Patty Hashtu has a terrible reputation from her previous portfolios, and I think that she's
00:11:41.640 continuing to carry a terrible reputation.
00:11:44.300 And so there's very little faith in her, specifically as the Minister of Jobs, and there's very little
00:11:50.000 goodwill amongst Canadians, as pertains to her specifically.
00:11:55.100 But I think that ultimately Canadians are happy that they will be happy if planes are operating
00:12:00.380 in the regular dysfunctional fashion that they typically do.
00:12:06.600 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay on top of new episodes every weekday
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