The Impact of St Catharines Milling

• Author: Karen Drake
• Pages: 618-638



TheImpactof

St Catharines Milling

Karen Drake*

A. INTRODUCTION

St Cathari nes Millingmayseemlikeap eculiarc hoiceasoneofthet hree

constitutionalcasesth athelpedtodeneCanadaasanationgiventhat

mostof t he legal principles armed by Lord Watsonwr iting for the

PrivyCounc ilhave been overruledTh isc hapteridenties the princi

plesfromSt Catharines Milling whicharestillgoodlawandarguest hat

the logict hatu nderliesand shapes those princ iplesis the logic of the

doctrineofdiscoveryandtheprincipleofterra nullius

Juristshavear ticulateddierentversion softhedoct rineofdis covery

anddisagreedab outitspreciserequi rementsAtitsessencethedoctr ine

 AssociateProfes sorOsgoodeHallLawSchoolatYorkUniversityIwouldliketo

thankJessic aKarjanm aaforherdiligentrese archassista nceandKentMcNeilfor

hishelpfulcom mentsonanearlierdra ftAnyerrorsar emyresponsibilit yalone

 SeeRobertJMil lerTheDoctrin eofDiscoveryinRobe rtJMilleretalDiscovering

IndigenousLandsTheDoctrin eofDiscoveryintheEnglishColoniesOx fordOxford

UniversityPressatarguingthatEurop eansoccasion allydisagre ed

overtheexactmeani ngofDiscoveryandevensometi mesviolentlydisputedt heir

divergentclaimsbutonepr incipletheyneverdisag reedaboutwasthatt heIn

digenouspeoplesandnat ionslostsovereigncom mercialandrea lpropertyrig hts

immediatelyuponth eirdiscoverybyEuropeansSe eKarenDrakeThe A nswer,

NottheProblemAnExaminationoftheRol eofAboriginalRightsinSecuringaLiberal

Foundation for the Legitimacy of th e Canadian StateLLMThesisUniversityofToronto

FacultyofLawunpublishedatidentify ingandanalyz ingthreed if

ferentversionsofthedoc trineofdis covery

The Impact of StCathar inesMilli ng

allowsanationtoacqui resovereigntyoverforeignterr itorybybeingt he

rsttodiscoveritonsomeversionsitwasnec essarytonoton lydiscover

butal so eectivelyoccupyt he territoryTraditionallythismodeofac

quiring sovereigntyapplied onlyto ter ra nulliust hatis territory notyet

pos ses se dbya soc ia lly and pol iti callyo rga ni zed com mu nit ySomeEu ro 

pean nations howeverdeemedIndigenous territories to be terra nullius

forthe sake of assertingsovereignty over them bymean sof discovery

Theirrationalewasthesupposedinfer iorityofIndigenouspeoples

Theoperationofthedoctr ineofdiscoveryandt heprincipleofterra

nulliuswithinSt Catharine s Millingisnotim mediatelyapparentNeither

ofthese phrases appearsin LordWatsonsdecisionNordoes his deci

sioncontainanydiscussionofMarshallCJstrilogyestablishingthedoc

trineofdiscoveryinAmericanlawincludingJohnson v M’Intosh,which

hasbee ncited atlengt hi nmodern Canadian decisionsNor didLord

WatsonexplicitlyaccuseIndigenouspeoplesofinferiorityasChancellor

BoyddidsoopenlyinthetrialdecisionYetasothershaverecogni zed

thedoctrineofdiscoveryise nmeshedwithinLordWatsonsanalysis

Canadahasmanythingstobeproudofduringitssesquicentennial

butthedoctrineofdiscoveryisnotoneofthemWhileCanadiansright

fullycel ebrateourmanyacc omplishments thedoct rineofdi scoveryre

mainsou rnational shameTh isstateof aairs isnotunavoidableOur

elected governments haveit wit hin their power to repudiate the doc

 SeeJohnHCurriePublic Internati onal LawdedTorontoIrwinLawat

 SeeCurrieibidDrakeabovenoteat

 SeeMillerabovenoteat

 Ibid atMFLindleyTheAcquisitionandGo vernmentofBackwardTerritoryinInter na-

tionalLawBeingaTreatiseontheLawandPracticeR elatingtoColonialExpansionNew

YorkNegroUniversitiesPressatJohnson v M’Intosh Wheaton

atUS

 Johnson v M’Intoshibid

 Seeespecia llyGuerin v CanadaSCRatDicksonJGuerinR v Van

der Pee t SCRatparasandLamerCJMitchell v Canada (Minister

of National Revenue)SCCatparasBinnieJminorityopinion See

also R v SparrowSCRatSparrowholdingthattherewasfrom

theoutsetneveranydoubtt hatsovereigntyandleg islativepowerandindeedth e

underlyingtitletosuc hlandsvestedinth eCrownandcitingJo hnson v M’Intosh

abovenoteassupportforthispr opositionTsilhqotinNationvBritishColumbia

BCCAatpara

 R v St Catharines Milling and Lumber CompanyORChSt Catharines

Milling TrialDecision

 SeeLeroyLileBearAConceptofNativeTitleTheLegalTermsintheBale

forLandSummerAwkesasne NotesTraceyLindbergTheD octrineof

DiscoveryinCan adainRobertJMille retalabovenoteat