Indigenous Rights are Obligations, Not Opinions
Two new polls suggest that Canadians are divided on Indigenous rights, and provincial and federal legislation enshrining the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into law.
The problem is rights are not popularity contests. When constitutional and treaty obligations are reduced to public opinion questions, they become optional. But they are not.
August 20, 2025: Special status or equal treatment? Canadians divided on Indigenous rights, but united on financial transparency | Global News
August 25, 2025: B.C. divided about UNDRIP: Equal numbers say it’s a necessary step, goes too far to limit provincial authority | CTV News
The problem with polling rights
A key issue with polling public opinion on rights is that it reframes legal and obligations as policy preferences.
It does not take too much of an imagination to think about through history with human rights if they depended on polling. Rights exist to protect people from the swinging pendulum of public opinion.
The legal problem
As uncomfortable as some may be with their growing awareness of the legal obligations of the Province of British Columbia, and the necessary roles all of us as citizens of British Columbia have in the work of reconciliation, no amount of public dissatisfaction with it can make it disappear.
S.35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and treaty rights. These include historic treaties, such as the Douglas Treaties locally, modern treaties, as well as Aboriginal Title and Rights. All of these oblige the provincial and federal Crown governments to honour specific commitments.
Honouring these commitments has always been a challenge for governments. This is evidenced by hundreds of court cases, the violation of treaties, and long delays in implementing Title and Rights. The effect of that has been prolonged social and economic costs for Indigenous peoples and Canadian society.
Responding to this reality, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued a call to action that the UN Declaration be adopted as a framework for reconciliation. Both governments have now passed legislation to uphold the human rights standards in the UN Declaration.
Again, these are obligations of governments, not policy choices.
Debunking Myths
The way some polling questions are framed perpetuates an ancient myth that Indigenous rights are the privileges of some at the expense of others.
However, as has the B.C. Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court of Canada have identified in the evolving jurisprudence since Calder in the 1950’s, Delgamuukw, Haida, Tsilhqot’in, and now Cowichan, the Canadian economy was built by the Crown reallocating lands and resources they did not own.
Indigenous rights are not charity that is handed out by governments when the economy is strong and pulled back when times are tough. They are obligations of governments in good times and bad.
Will British Columbia uphold the Honour of the Crown?
Polling companies do society no favours asking questions about whether Canadians support Indigenous rights.
Rights are not optional, negotiable, or contingent on public opinion. They are promises enshrined in law, affirmed by the courts, and grounded in the honour of the Crown. The only question we should be concerned about is how Canada and British Columbia are going to finally uphold the Crowns honour, and fulfill their obligations.
If any of our laws mean anything then, we, the citizens of British Columbia must demand that Indigenous rights are treated as what they are—government obligations—and not mere choices.
My colleague George Abbott has written a very well researched and factual account of how “the Canadian economy was built by the Crown reallocating lands and resources they did not own.”
It’s called Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why it Matters Now” (UBC Press). All British Columbians would benefit from reading it. https://www.ubcpress.ca/unceded
Solid take as always sir. The challenge Canadians are struggling with hangs in the conditional statement you end on: "If any of our laws mean anything..." In so many circumstances Canada's laws *don't* mean anything - or least not consistently the same thing...
There is a fundamental flaw in the Canadian legal system in that powerful people must actually defend the law and First Nations are simply - and devastatingly - the population with the least power. More representatives like you, Adam, is the only way to end the exploitation of this fact. You sure you don't want to get back into electoral politics?