How the Supreme Court’s Carbon Price Review Intersects with Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation

The author argues that the Supreme Court of Canada's focus on federal-provincial jurisdiction in its carbon price review erased critical Indigenous perspectives on sovereignty and climate justice. While the Court acknowledged that Indigenous peoples face disproportionate climate impacts, it failed to address arguments that Canada is not merely a bi-juridical state of federal and provincial powers, but one that must respect Indigenous laws and nation-to-nation relationships for reconciliation.

• Five Indigenous interveners—including the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs—submitted arguments emphasizing that the carbon pricing case had significant implications for Aboriginal rights and the need for nation-to-nation engagement for reconciliation.
• Several Indigenous groups argued that jurisdiction over greenhouse gas emissions should remain with the federal Parliament because the federal government has Constitutionally-entrenched jurisdiction over Indigenous peoples and lands, which simplifies the ability of Indigenous peoples to launch court claims if emissions are not effectively regulated.
• Climate change poses an existential threat to the identity and survival of certain Indigenous nations; for example, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation stated that the loss of ability to hunt, fish, and use winter roads would force migration and mean the nation "will have ceased to exist as an Aboriginal people."
• The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs challenged the 'bi-juridical' framing of the case, arguing that Indigenous laws should be respected as equals to federal and provincial laws based on the original treaties that formed Canada.
• The Supreme Court of Canada largely ignored the Indigenous submissions in its final decision, providing only a brief acknowledgment of the disproportionate impacts of climate change on Indigenous peoples without offering guidance on sovereignty or Aboriginal rights.

APA

Campney, A. (2021). How the Supreme Court’s Carbon Price Review Intersects with Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation. Canadian Climate Institute. https://climateinstitute.ca/how-the-supreme-courts-carbon-price-review-intersects-with-indigenous-rights-and-reconciliation/

Chicago

Campney, Alicia. How the Supreme Court’s Carbon Price Review Intersects with Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation. Canadian Climate Institute, 2021. https://climateinstitute.ca/how-the-supreme-courts-carbon-price-review-intersects-with-indigenous-rights-and-reconciliation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Campney |first1=Alicia |title=How the Supreme Court’s Carbon Price Review Intersects with Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation |publisher=Canadian Climate Institute |date=9 April 2021 |url=https://climateinstitute.ca/how-the-supreme-courts-carbon-price-review-intersects-with-indigenous-rights-and-reconciliation/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{campney2021how, author = {Campney, Alicia}, title = {{How the Supreme Court’s Carbon Price Review Intersects with Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://climateinstitute.ca/how-the-supreme-courts-carbon-price-review-intersects-with-indigenous-rights-and-reconciliation/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }