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Numbered treaties concluded in the second half of the nineteenth century cover all the Prairie provinces. They gave the aboriginal signatories the right to hunt, trap and fish throughout the territory "saving and except such tracts as may be required or taken up from time to time for settlement, mining, lumbering, trading or other purposes."
In the 2005 decision in Mikisew Cree First Nation v. Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that taking up land under Treaty 8 was subject to a constitutional duty of consultation. The Court also explained that if no meaningful right to hunt remains over the traditional territory of a Treaty 8 signatory, an action for treaty infringement would be a legitimate First Nation response. The Treaty covers northern Alberta, northeastern British Colombia, northwestern Saskatchewan and the southern portion of the Northwest Territories.
Two more recent court decisions in Canada continued to explore the scope of the obligation to consult with First Nations and the scope of numbered treaty rights issue of infringement and justification.
These directly impact mining operations in the...