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

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00:01:04.540 Queen's University, said Indigenous rights enshrined in the Constitution represent a return to outdated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 0.98

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. 0.98

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

00:12:11.400 by subscribing to The Daily Brief on iTunes and Spotify.

00:12:15.260 Also, while you're at it, make sure to hit us with a five-star rating, and please leave a review.

Juno News - August 20, 2025

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

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