Creating an indigenous legal community.

• Author: Borrows, John
• Position: Canada - John Tait Memorial Lecture / Conference Commemorative John Tait

In this lecture, the author challenges us to move beyond the cases and statutes that preoccupy lawyers generally and to reach, in the spirit of legal pluralism, for law expressed elsewhere--in oral histories and everyday lives. By weaving indigenous oral and Western scholarly traditions together, he demonstrates the existence of a pluralistic indigenous legal community and argues that conceiving of Canada as a bijuridical country is inherently limiting. Only through a pluralistic, multijuridical framework can we fully respect the place of indigenous legal thinking.

It is also essential to recognize that the scope of indigenous law is not limited to Aboriginal communities. Indigenous law is more than just private or Aboriginal community law: it is a part of Canada's constitutional structure. In fact, both indigenous and non-indigenous peoples benefit from treaty rights. As such, failing to recognize the significance of indigenous law will result in the impoverishment of our understanding of Canadian laws and legal processes.

The author builds on this argument to suggest that we can create an even stronger indigenous legal community in Canada. He underscores the importance of committing to John C. Tait's notion of "dialogue". In building a strong sense of community. By moving in this direction, Canada can be a world leader by recognizing the central role of indigenous law in private law, community law, and--perhaps most importantly--constitutional law.

Dans cette allocution, le conferencier lance le defi d'aller au-dela des arrets et lois qui preoccupent generalement les avocats pour s'interesser, dans l'esprit du pluralisme juridique, a d'autres sources de droit telles que l'histoire orale et la vie au quotidien. En entrelacant la tradition autochtone orale et la tradition academique occidentale, il demontre l'existence d'une communaute juridique autochtone pluraliste en soulignant qu'il est restrictif de concevoir le Canada comme un pays bijuridique. Seul un cadre pluraliste et multijuridique permet de donner sa juste place a la pensee juridique autochtone.

Raconnaitre la portee du droit autochtone au-dela des communites amerindiennes est primordial. Plus qu'un simple droit communautaire prive ou autochtone, c'est une partie importante de la structure constitutionnelle canadienne. D'ailleurs, autochtones comme non-autochtones beneficient de droits issus des traites. Ne pas reconnaitre la valeur du droit autochtone appauvrirait notre comprehension du droit canadien et de son fonctionnement.

L'auteur propose donc que l'on cree une communaute juridique autochtone encore plus forte. Il souligne l'importance de s'engager a poursuivre la notion de <> avancee par John C. Tait afin de developper le sentiment d'appartenance communautaire. En faisant un pas dans cette direction, le Canada pourrait devenir un chef de file, reconnaissant le role primoridial du droit autochtone en droit prive, en droit communautaire et, plus important encore, en droit constitutionnel.

Stephen Scott:

My Lords, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Stephen Scott, and I teach in this Faculty.

Au nom du Ministere de la Justice, qui est represente ce soir par son sousministre, Monsieur Morris Rosenberg, et de la Faculte de droit de McGill, que represente son doyen, le professeur Nicholas Kasirer, je vous souhaite la plus cordiale bienvenue a la cinquieme conference commemorative John Tait sur le droit et les politiques publiques.

Je demanderais d'abord au sous-ministre de nous adresser la parole au sujet de la vie et de l'oeuvre de John Tait.

Morris Rosenberg:

Thank you, Professor Scott. I want to say first of all how happy I am to be back here at McGill. It normally takes an hour and forty minutes to get here--it took us about three hours today because of traffic and we just made it. I am very happy that we did because I think this is a very important lecture and it honours the memory of John Tait. In a minute I am going to tell you a bit about John Tait. I just want to note a couple of people who are here tonight. John's wife, Sonia Plourde, as well as John's brother, David, and his wife, Andree, are able to join us today, and I am very pleased about that. Like John's family, many colleagues and many friends, this institution no doubt also takes great pride in the impressive legacy left by John Tait. As some of you may not know, John Tait was an outstanding graduate of the McGill Faculty of Law. After John passed away, we thought it would be apt to celebrate John's legacy at the place where he went to law school and the department where he spent six years as Deputy Minister.

So, I want to tell you a bit about John Tait, who was a truly kind and wise man, and why through this lecture we think that it is important that we continue to honour and remember him. John etait un juriste eminent et l'un de nos fonctionnaires les plus aimes. John nous a laisse pour heritage son leadership, sa devotion envers la fonction publique ainsi que l'envergure extraordinaire de sa vision et de son integrite. Il a laisse sa marque dans le developpement du droit et de la politique au ministere de la justice, qu'il a dirige en tant que sous-ministre, une marque indelebile et d'une immense portee qui continue d'influer le governement dans son ensemble, la collectivite juridique du Canada et bon nombre d'entre nous a titre personnel. John a vecu sa vie et pratique sa profession avec le plus haut degre d'engagement envers la justice et la dignite de tous les etres humains. Au Ministere de la Justice, il a contribue a l'elaboration de la Charte canadienne des droits et libertes (1) de meme que celle de la Loi sur l'acces a l'information (2) et la Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels (3).

John's work with the Aboriginal community, both during lais tenure with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, and later as Deputy Minister of Justice, demonstrated the strength of his values and his foremost belief in the promotion, protection, and respect of fundamental human rights. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, at a time when relations between Aboriginal peoples and government were marked by difficulties and mistrust, John helped to modernize the government's approach to its relations with Canada's Aboriginal peoples. He recognized that the voice of the Aboriginal community had been muted and he opened the door to inclusive consultations. Under his leadership, the concept of hearing and sentencing circles progressed toward the mainstream. John's unique blend of sharp intelligence and caring humanity won him the respect of those with whom he worked and those whose rives he touched. John believed profoundly in our ability to shape the law to build a more humane, peaceful, and respectful society. He was a seeker of new ideas, fresh perspectives, and a strong proponent of Aboriginal rights. John would have been particularly interested in hearing Professor John Borrows speak tonight on the topic of "Creating an Indigenous Legal Community." John would no doubt have listened respectfully, reflected seriously, all the while contemplating how he could integrate what he learned tonight in his own work and daily endeavours. Speaking personally, having read Professor Borrows' book last year--enjoying it very much--and having had the pleasure of hearing him speak at the 2003 Cambridge Lecture Series, I look forward to his remarks this evening. Thank you very much.

Stephen Scott:

Thank you so much, Mr. Deputy Minister. I will now ask Dean Kasirer to introduce our guest speaker.

Nicholas Kasirer:

Chers membres de la famille Tait, Monsieur le sous-ministre Rosenberg, Monsieur le professeur Scott, Monsieur le professeur Borrows, chers collegues du Ministere de la Justice du Canada et de la Faculte de droit de McGill, j'ai l'honneur et le privilege de vous presenter notre conferencier pour cette cinquieme conference John Tait, le professeur John Borrows, professeur a la Faculte de droit de l'Universite Victoria et titulaire de la Chaire Law Foundation en Justice et Gouvernance autochtone a cette universite. En accueillant John Borrows a McGill, je salue un ami de la Faculte, un ami de l'association etudiante de droit autochtone d'ici et un chercheur de renommee internationale.

One learns a great deal about a person by looking at how he or she holds himself out as a jurist. Law professors tend to advertise their advanced degrees, their professional qualifications, awards and distinctions, as so many badges on their professorial sleeves. John Borrows has more university degrees and distinctions than most, but in his too modest biography he tells us who he is by starting with the fact that he is an Anishinabe and a member of the Chippewas of the Nawash First Nation. He is an Aboriginal scholar in a culture where scholarship is not always measured in traditional ways, or at least, the traditions of scholarship are pursued outside the confines of the ivory tower.

John Borrows confronted this paradox with candour and imagination recently in a paper called "Listening for a Change," (4) dealing with the courts and oral history, so critical, of course, to understanding indigenous law. That paper, which was published a couple of years ago in the Osgoode Hall Law Journal, begins with a moving personal narrative: an oral history recounted by John Borrows' aunt. (5) In that is a message, I think, a powerful message of humility that resonates through John Borrows' work. He himself is a master of the Western scholarly mode. Indeed, he is one of Canada's most prolific and imaginative legal scholars. But here he turns the scholarly mode that he has mastered so well against himself. Il donne la parole a sa tante--and recognizes that his aunt, in some measure, is a jurist just as he is. The idea that law--be it scholarship, custom, title, rights--is to be found outside the usual sites of state-sponsored nonnativity is, I think, one of the overarching themes in John Borrows'...