The Right Relationship

The relationship between Canada’s Indigenous peoples and the Canadian government is one that has increasingly come to the fore. Numerous tragic incidents, a legacy of historical negligence, and more vehement calls for action are forcing a reconsideration of the relationship between the federal government and Indigenous nations.

In The Right Relationship, John Borrows and Michael Coyle bring together a group of renowned scholars, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to cast light on the challenges Canadians face in seeking a consensus on the nature of treaty partnership in the twenty-first century. The diverse perspectives examine how Indigenous peoples’ own legal and policy frameworks can be used to develop healthier attitudes between First Peoples and settler governments in Canada. While considering the existing law of Aboriginal and treaty rights, the contributors imagine what these relationships might look like if those involved pursued our highest aspirations as Canadians and Indigenous peoples. This timely and authoritative volume provides answers that will help pave the way towards good governance for all.

John Borrows is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria and is the winner of both the Canadian Political Science Association’s Donald Smiley Prize (for Recovering Canada) and the Canadian Law and Society Association Book Prize (for Canada’s Indigenous Constitution).