Interconnections: The symbiosis of human rights and environmental protection An argument for First Nation environmental governance

Abstract

In its review of international law, court decisions and federal legislation and policy, this paper confirms that the Crown is not meeting international standards of respect for the connection between Indigenous peoples and the land, is consistently in breach of the Constitution and recommendations from the Canadian Courts to reconcile the rights of Indigenous peoples with the sovereignty of the Crown, excludes First Nation peoples from environmental decision making, and rejects a fundamental principle of most First Nation peoples' traditional cultures; the interconnectedness of all things. This attack on First Nation peoples' inherent rights to self-determination and self-government undermines their capacity to sustain their traditional cultures, which in turn frustrates the preservation of biological diversity. This paper recommends the inclusion of First Nation governments, as equals to the Crown, in environmental governance, thereby facilitating the exercise of traditional laws of respect for the land as a means to help sustain biological diversity.