News/Press
Supreme Court of Canada rules on Dickson Matter
In late March, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) issued its ruling on the appeal of Cindy Dickson v. Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, an important case before the court which had potentially far-reaching implications for the nation-to-nation relationship between the Crown and self-governing First Nations.
In its ruling, the SCC found the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation (VGFN)’s requirement that elected officials live on settlement land was constitutional, and dismissed an appeal from Cindy Dickson, a Vuntut Gwitchin citizen living in Whitehorse, who had argued the residency requirement violated her Charter rights.
The majority ruling cited the “residency requirement is protected as an “other” right or freedom under section 25 of the Charter because it preserves “Indigenous difference”.
Members of the Boughton team represented the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) as intervener before the SCC in the appeal—one of 10 interveners granted leave.
For more information about the case, please contact Boughton’s Daryn R. Leas, or James M. Coady, K.C..
