- Powley ruling
The Powley Ruling refers to the case known as [http://www.canlii.org/ca/cas/scc/2003/2003scc43.html R v. Powley] . This case establishes that
Métis people have the right under theIndian Act to aboriginal treaty rights.----Although this ruling gives the right to some Métis it also takes away some rights at the same time. In order for this ruling to apply to specific Métis people they have to show that they established a community prior to European political and legal control.
"A pre-control test establishing when Europeans achieved political and legal control in an area and focusing on the period after a particular Métis community arose and before it came under the control of European laws and customs is necessary to accommodate this history. [http://www.canlii.org/ca/cas/scc/2003/2003scc43.html R. v. Powley] "
This means that as long as a Métis group of people established a community that was distinctive from the Aboriginal people they were associated with and was not under the control of the European settlers than it can be considered to have special rights that are specificied under sec. 35 of the Canadian constitution and the Indian Act.
----An example of where this ruling works against a Métis Nation
The Labrador Métis Nation
The Labrador Métis Nation is made up of Métis Inuit. The Labrador Inuit have a land claim in existence in the northern area of Labrador. The problem is that these Inuit Métis live on the Southern portion of Labrador. These Métis argue they have a land claim to the southern portion but that is invalidated by the fact that they did not set up a community themselves, but rather moved with the European settlers to the south coast of Labrador who established communities there. That therefore means that although the Métis can establish that they live in the same area, they however cannot establish that these communities were distinct and separate from Europeans.
The official position of the Labrador Métis Nation is that the Powley decision does not set out a specific criteria of what exactly a Métis is, but this position is mainly rhetoric and not a legal opinion.
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