The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations says court officials and First Nations need to work together to uphold the treaty rights of Indigenous people.
Perry Bellegarde was a keynote speaker at a conference for the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice in Saskatoon on Thursday.
This year’s conference was focused on Aboriginal peoples and law.
“We need to work collectively together to bring about change and bring First Nations laws into a system that is foreign to our people,” said Bellegarde while speaking to a gallery of judges, lawyers, policy makers and court workers.
Bellegarde said the judicial branch of the government is doing their part to recognize treaty rights. He cited several recent Supreme Court decisions that favoured Aboriginal rights and title. Now he says it is time for the legislative and executive branches to follow suit.
“So we need you as judges and policy makers to put pressure on the legislative and executive branch to change the outdated policies to keep in line with what the judiciary branch is saying,” he said.
Bellegarde also said it is important to uphold the “spirit and intent” of the treaties rather than the specific text in each document.
The national chief also took a moment to encourage everyone in attendance to focus on closing the gap in the quality of life between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people when voting on October 19.