Corbiere v Canada (Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs)

Corbiere v Canada (Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs) [1999] 2 S.C.R. 203, is a leading case from the Supreme Court of Canada where the Court expanded the scope of applicable grounds upon which a section 15(1) Charter claim can be based. This was also the first case to use the framework proposed by Law v. Canada.

Background

Members of the Batchewana Indian Band, on behalf of themselves and all other non-resident members of the band, sought a declaration that section 77(1) of the Indian Act violates section 15(1) of the Charter. The section of the Indian Act states that only band members "ordinary resident" on the reserve be permitted in order to vote in the band elections even though only one third of the registered members live on the reserve.

Court's ruling

The court unanimously agreed with the Court of Appeal's ruling that the Act violated section 15(1) of the Charter. However, the Court was split 5 to 4 on the proper application of the test.

The majority opinion was written by McLachlin and Bastarache JJ. with Lamer C.J., Major, and Cory JJ. concurring.

The Court found that an analogous ground upon which a section 15 claim can be based must be immutable, either actually immutable, such as race, or constructively immutable such as religion. Furthermore, once a ground is identified as analogous it remains analogous for all circumstances.

The minority opinion was given by L'Heureux-Dubé with Gonthier, Iacobucci and Binnie JJ. concurring.

See also

• List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Lamer Court)
• The Canadian Crown and First Nations, Inuit and Métis
• Canadian Indigenous case law
• Numbered Treaties
• Indian Act
• Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982
• Indian Health Transfer Policy (Canada)

External links

• Full text of Supreme Court of Canada decision at LexUM and CanLII
• Centre for Constitutional Studies: Corbiere v. Canada

Canadian Indigenous law
Politics, law and legislation	Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada The Canadian Crown and Indigenous peoples Canadian Indian residential school system High Arctic relocation Fred Quilt inquiry Ipperwash Crisis
Indigenous law	Royal Proclamation of 1763 Constitution Act, 1867 Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 Douglas Treaties Robinson Treaty 1969 White Paper Kelowna Accord Numbered Treaties Indian Act Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples First Nations treaties in British Columbia Indian Health Transfer Policy Duty to consult and accommodate Gladue report
Case law	Attorney General of Canada v. Lavell R. v. Badger Calder v. British Columbia Chippewas of Sarnia Band v. Canada Corbiere v. Canada Daniels v. Canada Delgamuukw v. British Columbia Native Women's Association of Canada v. Canada Kruger and al. v. The Queen R. v. Marshall; R. v. Bernard R. v. Marshall Mitchell v. M.N.R. Paul v. British Columbia Paulette Caveat Powley ruling R. v. Drybones R. v. Gladstone R. v. Gladue R. v. Gonzales R. v. Guerin R. v. Jim R. v. Pamajewon R. v. Sparrow Re Eskimos St. Catharines Milling and Lumber Co. v. R. R. v. Van der Peet Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia Daniels v. Canada
International rights & laws	Definitions and identity of indigenous peoples Declaration of Indigenous Peoples Rights United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Indigenous intellectual property
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