Kingston Whig Standard
Sept. 6, 2007
Having read the editorial "Aboriginals and anarchy" (Sept. 4), I had to ask, who are the anarchists? The foundation document in the dispute over uranium mining north of Sharbot Lake is the Royal Proclamation of 1763. In it, the Crown ceded most of the North American continent to the aboriginals to prevent the colonists from driving the aboriginals from their land following the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, in which the Indians supported the French against the British. Under the proclamation, the colonial authority had only one mandate, which was to ensure that colonists did not settle on Indian land and that all settlers on Indian land removed themselves. A provision was made for aboriginals to willingly sell land back to the Crown through treaty agreements. Land thus acquired could be farmed out by the Crown for settlement.
The first challenge to this arrangement was caused by our American cousins, who fought their war of independence. The Loyalists moved northward into the Indian land of Upper Canada and began to make treaties with the aboriginals for land concessions. It is not clear whether coercion was involved. These Loyalists would have been in violation of the original tenets of the Royal Proclamation in making any effort to settle lands before a treaty was in place. Legal wrangling, however, allowed for ownership of the lands settled, even after treaties were put in place, although, strictly speaking, these lands were being sold back to the Crown, not to the individuals who settled them.
In the current dispute, Ontario has already agreed that the lands in question are subject to unsettled land claims, which means they are Indian lands, and according to the original proclamation, the only mandate the Crown has is to ensure there is no settlement of these lands. The Canadian court has no authority over these lands until the land claims are settled.
The only authority the Crown has is to prevent the exploitation of these lands by those seeking to settle them - in this case, by those seeking to mine uranium. The aboriginals aren't breaking any law; they're upholding the law. Any judge who thinks otherwise is probably on the wrong side of the Canada-U.S. border.
We are Canadians, not Americans, and the Royal Proclamation of 1763 should have its force in law.
D.R. Dafoe
Kingston