(Ottawa, August 31, 2005) ― The Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) announced today that
University of British Columbia history professor Arthur Ray has been awarded
the 2005 Bora Laskin Fellowship to examine what he calls Canada's
biggest unresolved human rights issue—Aboriginal land claims.
Granted annually by SSHRC, the Bora Laskin National Fellowship in Human
Rights was established in 1985 to honour the late chief justice of the
Supreme Court of Canada. The prestigious 12-month, $55,000 fellowship
is awarded to a leading Canadian researcher in the field of human rights.
“Land claims are based, more and more, on historical research,”
explains Ray, who has served as an expert witness in several landmark
Canadian court cases on Aboriginal rights. “And how the courts treat
this evidence is creating an uneven type of justice.”
For example, Aboriginal communities located close to major fur trading
routes may have a wealth of historical evidence to draw from when arguing
their claims—documents like personal diaries or business records
that mention their community and way of life. Yet, says Ray, more isolated
groups do not. These groups must often fund new research to prove their
claims, or lose the right to live on and use the natural resources of
their ancestral lands.
The result, says Ray, is that land claims are becoming so expensive only
the wealthiest communities can afford to participate.
“Expert testimony is taking up more time in the courtroom,”
says Ray. “For example, the Sampson Cree case still being decided
in Alberta has already taken 365 trial days and has included a huge cast
of historians, anthropologists and other experts.”
Such cases also make unrealistic demands on trial judges, who must develop
a PhD level of knowledge on the subject almost overnight, and sort through
many different points of view to make decisions about new historical facts.
Because these decisions often have historical as well as legal implications,
Ray will use this fellowship to compare different approaches to land claim
settlements in Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia over
the past 50 years. He hopes his research will pave the way for more balanced—and
less expensive—solutions to disputes over Aboriginal rights in Canada
and around the world.
“These decisions have real consequences: for the rights of Aboriginal
people, for governments who sometimes pay millions of dollars in compensation,
and for our understanding of Canadian history,” says SSHRC president
Marc Renaud. “The work of Professor Ray will help us learn how we
can reduce the potential costs of land claim disputes, both in terms of
money and human dignity.”
For additional information on this release and other SSHRC research
projects, please contact:
Doré Dunne
Media relations officer
Telephone: (613) 992-7302
E-mail: dore.dunne@sshrc.ca
