Q.1. What is the Aboriginal and Treaty Rights Information System (ATRIS)?
A.1. The
Aboriginal and Treaty Rights Information System (ATRIS) is a Web-based information system intended to map out the location of Aboriginal communities and conveniently display information pertaining to their potential or established Aboriginal or treaty rights.
ATRIS provides users with information on treaties or agreements and claims processes and associates it with a geographic location or an Aboriginal group on a map, increasing the accessibility of up-to-date, site-specific information on the rights or potential rights of Aboriginal groups.
Q.2. What are Aboriginal and treaty rights?
A.2. Before Europeans arrived in North America, various areas of Canada were home to Aboriginal groups. Aboriginal rights stem from this prior occupancy; they are the rights held as a result of longstanding use and occupancy of the land.
Under the law, the unique legal and constitutional status of Aboriginal peoples derives from the fact that they are the descendants of the people who were resident in North America long before Europeans arrived. As early as the 18th century, Britain recognized that First Nations had claims to the land and major treaties were signed across Canada as settlement moved west.
In the early 1970s, successive court cases confirmed the existence of Aboriginal rights. In 1982, Canada’s supreme law, the Constitution Act, was amended to recognize and affirm existing Aboriginal and treaty rights. It is important to note that this change to the Constitution Act did not create or define any new Aboriginal rights – rather, it recognized and affirmed already existing Aboriginal rights, without spelling out what those rights were or where they might exist.
Aboriginal rights are being defined through the Canadian courts. For example, in 1990, the Supreme Court of Canada concluded in the Sparrow decision that the Musqueam Indian Band in British Columbia has an existing Aboriginal right to fish. This is just one example of an Aboriginal right. So far, Canadian courts have confirmed that Aboriginal rights:
- exist in law;
- may include Aboriginal title, which is a right to exclusive use and occupancy of land;
- are site-, fact- and group-specific; and
- are not absolute and may be justifiably infringed by the Crown.
Treaty rights refer to Aboriginal rights set out in a treaty. Starting in 1701, in what was to eventually become Canada, the British Crown entered into treaties to encourage peaceful relations with First Nations. Some early treaties, like the Peace and Friendship Treaties in the Atlantic region, were strategic alliances. Other later treaties, such as the Numbered Treaties in Ontario, the Prairies, as well as parts of the Northwest Territories and British Columbia (1871 to 1921), involved First Nations ceding or surrendering rights to the land in exchange for treaty rights. While no two treaties are identical, examples of treaty rights across Canada included such things as reserve lands, farming equipment and animals, annual payments, ammunition, clothing and certain rights to hunt and fish. Treaty rights are protected under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
Q.3. What is meant by “potential” Aboriginal and treaty rights?
A.3. Potential rights include rights that have been asserted but not yet confirmed by a court or treaty.
Q.4. Why was ATRIS created?
A.4. The development of a repository of information on established or potential Aboriginal and treaty rights was a key commitment under the Government of Canada’s 2007 Action Plan on Aboriginal Consultation and Accommodation.
Originally available only to federal government officials, an enhanced version of the system was made available to the general public on September 23, 2013, to share information on Aboriginal and treaty rights and facilitate consultations with Aboriginal groups.
ATRIS provides access to information that will help governments, industry and other interested parties to determine which Aboriginal groups they may need to consult about their activities across Canada. Canada has a legal duty to consult First Nations, Métis and Inuit groups and, where appropriate, accommodate them when the Crown contemplates conduct that may adversely affect their established or potential Aboriginal or treaty rights.
Q.5. What information is included in ATRIS?
A.5. ATRIS includes public information from a range of sources, including federal, provincial and third-party, related to established or potential Aboriginal or treaty rights. This includes key information such as:
- Aboriginal Community Information, including the contact information for Chiefs and band offices; information on Tribal Council affiliations; some Métis local and provincial/territorial/national organization information; information on Inuit communities and governments; and other relevant information on Aboriginal groups, communities and organizations.
Q.6. Why is Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) making ATRIS available on its website?
A.6. ATRIS is being made available on AANDC’s website in an effort to make government information more accessible to government officials, Aboriginal people, industry and other interested parties.
ATRIS provides access to information that will help governments, industry and other interested parties to determine which Aboriginal groups they may need to consult about their activities across Canada. Federal and provincial governments, industry and Aboriginal groups all stand to benefit from the increased accessibility of this information.
This public launch of ATRIS supports the Government of Canada’s Open Government initiative. Specifically, the system furthers the Government’s objectives related to Open Information, which is about proactively releasing information to Canadians on an ongoing basis.
Q.7. Where can I learn more about how to use ATRIS?
A.7. The “Help” file in ATRIS assists users with how to use the system and provides them with information on troubleshooting. Additionally, AANDC will be holding online “webinars” to provide an overview of ATRIS and its key functions. Should you wish to participate in one of these webinars, please contact us at ATRIS-SIDAIT@aadnc-aandc.gc.ca.
Q.8. Does ATRIS include personal, private or confidential information?
A.8. ATRIS’s public repository does not include any personal, private, confidential, protected or privileged information. All publicly accessible information in ATRIS comes from publicly available sources.
Q.9. I’ve noticed some information in the system that seems to be out of date or inaccurate. Whom should I contact?
A.9. AANDC is committed to improving the accuracy, completeness and relevancy of the ATRIS content and will continue to work to ensure that users are offered the most up-to-date and accurate information available through the system.
AANDC invites users to participate in the development of this system by sharing their feedback using the feedback form available within ATRIS. For any other questions or inquiries, please contact us at ATRIS-SIDAIT@aadnc-AANDC.gc.ca.
Q.10. How accessible is the information in ATRIS? Is it available in both official languages?
A.10. ATRIS is compliant with all federal government standards, policies and guidelines related to the accessibility and sharing of information online, including the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Web Standards for the Government of Canada, the Directive on Official Languages for Communications and Services, the Privacy Act, and other related policies.
All information from federal government sources is made available in both official languages; however, some information provided by third parties may only be available in French or English, depending on the source of the information. In each case, AANDC makes every effort to include third-party information in both official languages or in other languages where they may exist. For more information, please see the disclaimer on the ATRIS website.
Q.11. What improvements were made to the system in preparation for its public launch?
A.11. Several enhancements to ATRIS were made in preparation for the system’s launch on the AANDC website.
Key improvements to ATRIS include:
- making the information compliant with Treasury Board Secretariat’s Web Standards for the Government of Canada governing accessibility of government information;
- adding relevant information on communities and organizations (e.g. website addresses, other online sources of information)
- improving the mapping interface and adding new mapping layers (e.g. Google maps); and
- upgrading the system’s software and hardware for increased performance and reliability.
Q.12. Is this the final version of ATRIS?
A.12. ATRIS is a dynamic and evolving system. As further information on Aboriginal rights in Canada becomes available through consultations with Aboriginal communities, court decisions or other means, ATRIS will be updated to reflect and enhance public access to this important data. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada invites users to participate in the development of this system by sharing their feedback using the feedback form available within ATRIS.
