On April 24, 2024, Claire Truesdale and Molly Churchill represented Okanagan Indian Band (“OKIB”) at the Supreme Court of Canada as an intervener in Attorney General of Québec v. Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan, a case about persistent underfunding of the Mashteuiatsh police service. A main question before the Court was whether the honour of the Crown is engaged by tripartite funding agreements for on-reserve policing services and if so, what obligations it places on the federal and provincial Crowns.
The honour of the Crown is a constitutional principle that is rooted in the Crown’s assertion of sovereignty and de facto control over Indigenous nations’ territories. Its purpose is to reconcile pre-existing and ongoing Indigenous sovereignty and asserted Crown sovereignty.
OKIB has first-hand experience with the difficulties posed by chronic underfunding of essential services on reserve. Its submissions focused on establishing that the honour of the Crown is engaged by Crown-First Nation funding agreements regarding on-reserve services. These agreements are tied to reconciliation of Indigenous sovereignty and asserted Crown sovereignty because they affect a First Nation’s ability to be self-governing and to benefit from its reserve lands as a home, economic, and cultural base. The court reserved judgment and is expected to make its decision in several months’ time.
A recording of the hearing can be found here.
OKIB’s factum can be found here.
News coverage about the case: