In Dickson v. Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation (SCC, 2024) the Supreme Court of Canada considered the relation of aboriginal rights and the Charter (here s.15 discrimination), focussing primarily on Charter s.25 ['Aboriginal rights and freedoms not affected by Charter'].
Here the court briefly considers the fiduciary relationship that the Crown has with aboriginal people:
[114] Further, as Lamer C.J. wrote in R. v. Van der Peet, 1996 CanLII 216 (SCC), [1996] 2 S.C.R. 507, the fiduciary relationship between the Crown and Indigenous peoples implies that “treaties, s. 35(1), and other statutory and constitutional provisions protecting the interests of [A]boriginal peoples, must be given a generous and liberal interpretation” (para. 24, citing R. v. George, 1966 CanLII 2 (SCC), [1966] S.C.R. 267, at p. 279). In our view, the protection of Indigenous minority interests under s. 25 should be interpreted in the same spirit.
The author has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this Isthatlegal.ca webpage.