Colonial courts attack Barriere Lake's sovereignty

 Colonial courts attack Barriere Lake's sovereignty

By Krishna E. Bera, Lori Waller, and Greg Macdougall

In Feb. 2010, the Mitchikanibikok Inik - or Algonquins of Barriere Lake (ABL), a small First Nation community located 130km north of Maniwaki, Quebec, presented arguments in the Supreme Court of Canada defending their latest leadership selection.

A few weeks later, the court decided the selection was not held according to ABL's customary governance code. The judge misinterpreted the customary governance code with inconsistent logic in his arguments, which might play a role in paving the way for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to impose section 74 of the Indian Act. This would abolish the customary method the ABL use to select their leaders.

This follows a notice Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl sent to the ABL in October that he would not recognize their legitimate leadership. Instead, he said he will impose elections on the community in April 2010.

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