Aboriginal consultation reaffirmed – Calgary Herald

November 29, 2014

Aboriginal law specialist Tom Isaac has a clear message after what many have hailed as a historic Aboriginal title ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada: “the sky is not falling.”

This summer’s Supreme Court decision declared the Tsilhqot’in First Nation held a valid title over approximate 1,750 square kilometres of land in central British Columbia.

The decision — while important and historic in the sense that all that court’s decisions are — does not establish new law but confirms both Aboriginal rights and governments’ right to govern, says Isaac, head of Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt’s Aboriginal Law group and a former Chief Treaty Negotiator for the government of British Columbia.