Browse Cases

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Indigenous youths and mothers force Abitibi-Consolidated and Weyerhaeuser to stop logging Grassy Narrows territory in Ontario, 2002-2008.

Country
Canada
Time period
3 December, 2002 to 2 June, 2008
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ryan Leitner 20/02/2014

The Grassy Narrows or Asubpeeschoseewagon First Nation is an indigenous community in Canada. The reservation was established by treaty with the Canadian government and British Crown in 1871 and is located 80 kilometers north of Kenora in northern Ontario. 

The traditional territory of the Asubpeeschoseewagon people includes the land, waters, and natural resources used, occupied, and owned by the First Nation. Corporate development has long compromised the health and sovereignty of the people.

Canadian Mennonite conscientious objectors resist military service in Second World War 1939-40

Country
Canada
Time period
June, 1939 to 24 December, 1940
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Human Rights
Peace
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Lamin Colly, and 26/11/2013

Mennonites are a division of Christianity that has experienced significant persecution and segregation over the years due to their strongly held values of adult baptism and nonviolence. Menno Simons drastically diverged from the Catholic faith in the 1500s, and quickly rose to become highly influential.

Caledonia First Nations Defend Grand River Territory 2006-2011.

Country
Canada
Time period
28 February, 2006 to 8 July, 2011
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Anna Kovacs, 24/11/2013

During
the 18th Century the Iroquois aided the British government to defend
what is now known as Canadian territory from the Americans. As an expression of
gratitude to the Iroquois, the British gifted to them six miles along both
sides of Grand River as a place to never be disturbed; as spiritual land for
the people to forever enjoy.

 

New Brunswick Burnt Church First Nation campaign to defend their fishing rights, 1999-2002

Country
Canada
Time period
3 October, 1999 to 1 August, 2002
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Leigha Koehn 05/03/13

The Mi’Kmaq people of New Brunswick have always fished in the Miramichi Bay and River. On 17 September 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the native fishing rights of Donald Marshall, who had been charged with fishing out of season, fishing without a license, and fishing with an illegal net. The "Marshall Decision" agreed on by the Supreme Court stated that its decision would uphold the honour and integrity of the Crown in its dealings with the Mi’Kmaq people to secure their peace and friendship. This decision caused chaos in New Brunswick.

Algonquins campaign against uranium mining, Ontario, Canada, 2007-2008

Country
Canada
Time period
29 June, 2007 to 1 December, 2008
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
2.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Emma Mae Boddy 02/03/2013 and Laura Rigell 20/08/2014

The Frontenac Ventures Development Corporation received from the Ontario government in Canada a permit to begin exploratory drilling for uranium on 30,000 acres of Canadian Crown land in its eastern region of Sharbot Lake. In June 2007, the company began surveying.  The company planned to dig trenches, log the forest, and remove core mineral samples. 

Peace Camps in Quebec and Manitoba to support the Mohawks in the “Oka Crisis”, Canada, 1990

Country
Canada
Time period
29 July, 1990 to 24 September, 1990
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Peace
Total points
7.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Karen Ridd, 17/08/2012

In the summer of 1990, Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Canadians gathered at a “Peace Camp” in Oka, Quebec, Canada and a “Peace Village” in Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada. Their goal was four-fold:

  1. To support the Mohawks of Kanehsatake and Kahnawake Quebec who were in a stand-off with the Canadian government and military

  2. To bring attention to issues of injustice towards Aboriginal people in Canada

British Columbia locals save ancient forest remnant from destruction, Canada, 2004-2006

Country
Canada
Time period
March, 2004 to April, 2006
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ruth Vanstone, 28/03/2012

Cathedral Grove is one of the last remaining remnants of an ancient Douglas fir ecosystem in MacMillan Park on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Many of the trees are over 800 years old, reaching up to 250 feet in height. 

Indigenous allies in Ontario defend Lubicon Cree land against logging, Canada, 1991-98

Country
Canada
International
Time period
Spring, 1991 to June, 1998
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ruth Vanstone, 28/03/2012

The right to Aboriginal reserve land has been a contested issue throughout Canadian history, but perhaps one of the most disturbing violations of Aboriginal land rights is illustrated through the Lubicon Cree, a First Nations band in northern Alberta.

Winnipeg community members prevent overpass construction, 1979-1981

Country
Canada
Time period
Early, 1979 to January, 1981
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ruth Vanstone, 28/02/2012

Canadian inner-city neighbourhoods are often a passing thought to political figures and city residents, especially when their demolition means new development and million dollar deals. One such case was that of the decision to build an overpass in Winnipeg’s inner-city. Winnipeg’s Executive Policy Committee (EPC), along with Mayor Robert Steen, made the decision to build the overpass in the summer of 1978 without any community consultation and took the proposal straight to a City Council meeting (in which it was approved within five days). 

Sons of Freedom Doukhobors of Saskatchewan win communal land-holding, Canada, 1900-1907

Country
Canada
Time period
June, 1900 to January, 1907
Classification
Defense
Cluster
National/Ethnic Identity
Human Rights
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Quincy Brandt, 24/02/2012

The Doukhobors are a group of Russian peasants who left the Orthodox Church following a schism and were named “douko-borets," meaning “spirit wrestlers.” Their Christian beliefs led them to adopt principles of pacifism, communal living and the sharing of the possessions, the rejection of church and state authorities, and vegetarianism.

Canadian Aboriginals stop a constitutional amendment (Meech Lake Accord), 1990

Country
Canada
Time period
12 June, 1990 to 22 June, 1990
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Aaron Maciejko, 28/02/2012

The context for this campaign starts in the early 1980s with the repatriation of the legislation that founded Canada: the British North America Act of 1867. The idea of repatriation had been around since the 1920s and was finally brought to realization in 1982 by the then Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

Cree (First Nations) stop second phase of James Bay hydroelectric project, 1989-1994

Country
Canada
Time period
1989 to 1994
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Arielle Bernhardt 22/04/2010

In 1972, Matthew Coon Come, a young Cree student, happened upon a newspaper article that proclaimed Quebec’s ‘hydroelectric project of the century’. Looking at a map attached to the article, Matthew realized that his community’s lands in northern Quebec were to be submerged by the proposed dam. It was in this way that the Cree learned of the upcoming assault to their land that had been commissioned by the Quebecois government. The Cree are an aboriginal people that reside in northern Quebec, around the mouth of James Bay.