Indigenous justice gets a boost from the Canadian government.
Ottawa, Ont.-Indigenous law in Ontario is getting a federal boost. The federal government is earmarking funds for projects that are expected to help revitalize Indigenous legal traditions.
Justice Minister David Lametti says $918,000 will go to the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians and Lakehead University's law faculty over three years to support Indigenous law-making research and "lay the foundation" for an Indigenous legal institute in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
"We're confident that this funding will help make a real difference for Indigenous communities doing the sometimes challenging but important work of revitalizing their legal systems," he said at a news conference. "I firmly believe that the only way that Canada can live up to the goal of being a just country is by recognizing the plurality and the plural existence of legal systems that allow people to live as they live and have lived since time immemorial."
In his news conference, Lametti highlighted the example of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, which in 2016 established an independent legal system to handle non-criminal offences within the reserve. Though Canadian courts have recognized Indigenous legal traditions in areas that include family law and marriage, some legal experts feel the moves are past due.
The myriad legal traditions of diverse Indigenous communities should be respected, he added, saying that there is "no one blueprint."
Under two projects Lametti laid out, $481,000 will go to the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians to improve the law-making processes of the Lenape, Mohawk, Oneida and Anishinaabe nations in a research phase and then implement those laws and law-making institutions in a pilot phase.
Another $437,000 is earmarked for Lakehead University's Bora Laskin law faculty to revitalize Anishinaabe and Metis law in partnership with regional communities and to create learning opportunities for community members and law students.
The funding draws on a previously announced $9.5 million for 21 projects to help First Nations, Inuit and Metis restore Indigenous law in regions across the country.
That plan comes in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call to action No. 50, which demands the federal government work with Indigenous organizations to fund the establishment of Indigenous law institutes.
