Annex A: Summary of Conclusions from the 1993 Report In respect of Complaint No. 1: (i) That in 1949 the Government of Canada failed to acknowledge and assume its constitutional responsibility for the Innu as Aboriginal people in Canada. (ii) That the direct consequence of this failure was that the Innu were not given the opportunity at that time to become registered under the Indian Act and to have reserves created for the communities of Sheshatshiu and Davis Inlet. (iii) That to this day the Government of Canada has not acknowledged in an unequivocal way its direct constitutional responsibility for the Innu as Aboriginal people in Canada. In respect of Complaint No. 2: (iv) That the failure of the Government of Canada to acknowledge and assume direct responsibility for the Innu as Aboriginal people, which resulted in the failure in 1949 to apply the provisions of the Indian Act to them, has meant that the Innu have not received the same level and quality of services as are made available by the Government to other Aboriginal people in Canada. (v) That the failure of the Government of Canada to provide a level or quality of services to the Innu similar to that provided to other Aboriginal people in Canada constitutes a breach of its "fiduciary obligation" to the Innu as Aboriginal people in Canada. In respect of Complaint No. 3: (vi) That the failure of the Government of Canada to assume responsibility for the Innu as Aboriginal people in Canada has impaired the ability of the Innu to move toward self-government and to obtain control over programs and services that affect them. The existing arrangements will inhibit future negotiations on self-government and devolution of programs and services. In respect of Complaint No. 4: (vii) That the relocation of the Mushuau Innu to Nutak was undertaken without any real consultation with the Innu and without their consent. Back to top (viii) That there was very little knowledge or understanding of who the Innu were as people at that time and government officials assumed that they could make decisions for the Innu. (ix) That there is no evidence of a serious comparison of the conditions the Innu would face at Nutak with those that existed at Davis Inlet. (x) That the decision to relocate the Mushuau Innu was motivated by the fact that the government depot was to be closed at Davis Inlet and by the belief that the Moravian Mission at Hopedale would be opposed to the Innu coming to the government depot at Hopedale. (xi) That the decision to relocate the Mushuau Innu was taken against a background of an assumption that white officials knew what was in the interests of the Innu and of a policy that sought to turn the Innu into "white men" and to integrate them into the economy primarily through fishing. (xii) That the Mushuau Innu were relocated to their present site on Iluikoyak Island without any meaningful consultation about the move. (xiii) That the particular location was chosen primarily because it fulfilled the needs for a harbour and wharf to sustain the government store. (xiv) That the interests of the Innu were assumed to be those identified by the priest and government officials who dealt with the Innu. (xv) That the relocation was also motivated by an interest in directing the Innu towards fishing as an economic activity and was not focused on preserving traditional Innu practices such as returning to the country and caribou hunting. (xvi) That, although the Innu were not opposed to the move, their views were formed by the understanding that they would be receiving houses that would have running water and sewage disposal and this understanding is supported by the records of the time and by the construction of amenities in the houses that presupposed the existence of running water and sewage disposal. (xvii) That there has been a failure since 1967 either to provide the Innu with the living conditions they understood they were to get when they moved to their present location or to remedy the fundamental deficiencies of the lack of running water or of any sewage disposal system. Back to top Annex B: List of Interviews Conducted for the 2002 Report Persons interviewed in preparation for writing the 2002 Report included the following: Gregory Andrew
Leila Andrew
Mary Jane Andrew
Daniel Ashini
Jerome Bertholet
Clara Blake
Patrick Borbey
Brian Doré
Anik Dupont
Sean Dutton
Marie Fortier
Al Garman
Leila Gillis
Ian Gray
Joseph Gregoire
Rose Gregoire
Shirley Guy
Terry Hann
Kathleen Hobbs
Larry Innes | Eric Maldoff
Joe Matire
Joe McKinnon
Ben Michel
Jim Nui
John Nui
Mary Ann Nui
John Olthuis
Bob Pelley
Elizabeth Penashue
Peter Penashue
Sebastian Piwas
Cajetan Rich
Joseph Rich
Katie Rich
Paul Rich
Brian Torrie
Louise Trépanier
Simeon Tshakapesh
Jim White |
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Annex C: Biographical Notes on the Authors
Constance Backhouse
B.A. (Man.), LL.B. (Osg. Hall), LL.M. (Harvard), of the Ontario Bar, Full Professor, Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre Constance Backhouse is Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa, where she teaches in the areas of criminal law, human rights, and women and the law. She is the Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre. Professor Backhouse is the author of Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900–1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999), and Petticoats and Prejudice: Women and the Law in Nineteenth-Century Canada (Toronto: Women’s Press, 1991), which was awarded the 1992 Willard Hurst Prize in American Legal History by the (U.S.) Law and Society Association. Another of her books, Challenging Times: The Women’s Movement in Canada and the United States (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press), co-edited with David H. Flaherty, was named the 1993 Outstanding Book on the Subject of Human Rights in the United States by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in the United States. From 1988 to 1992, Professor Backhouse served as a member of the Steering Committee for the Complainants’ Group in the human rights complaint concerning Mary Jane Mossman, styled as Mary Lou Fassel et al. v. Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and Harry Arthurs. Since 1982, she has been a member of the board of directors of the Women’s Education and Research Foundation of Ontario, Inc. In 1981, she was awarded the Augusta Stowe-Gullen Affirmative Action Medal by the Southwestern Ontario Association for the Advancement of Learning Opportunities for Women. In 1998, she received the Law Society Medal. In 1999, the Bora Laskin Human Rights Fellowship provided funding to enable her to conduct a study of the history of sexual assault law and child custody law in Canada and Australia, a project in which she is currently engaged. Back to top Donald M. McRae LL.B. (Otago), LL.M. (Otago), Dipl.Int.Law (Cant.), of the Bars of New Zealand and Ontario, Full Professor Professor McRae holds the Hyman Soloway Chair in Business and Trade Law at the University of Ottawa and is a former Dean of the Common Law Section. He was formerly Professor and Associate Dean at the Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia. He specializes in the field of international law and has been an Advisor to the Department of External Affairs of the Government of Canada and Counsel for Canada in several international fisheries and boundary arbitrations. He was Chair of the first dispute settlement panel set up under Chapter 18 of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, and sat on subsequent panels under chapters 18 and 19 of the Free Trade Agreement. He was also Chair of the first dispute settlement panel set up under the U.S.–Israel Free Trade Agreement. He is currently on the roster of panellists under Chapter 19 of NAFTA and on the Indicative List of Panellists of the World Trade Organization. In 1998 he was appointed the Chief Negotiator for Canada for the Pacific Salmon Treaty. His publications are principally in the field of international law and he is Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Yearbook of International Law. Professor McRae teaches contracts, international law and international trade law at the University of Ottawa.
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