Volume 17: Issue 2 (2021)
Volume 17 Introductory Material
Arsalan Ahmed
Here, readers can find useful information concerning the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law, including its Editorial, Management, and Advisory Boards. The MJSDL is a student-run, peer-reviewed, bi-annual academic journal mandated to provide a forum for critical analysis on the intersecting themes of economics, society, human rights, and the environment, and the resulting implications for sustainable development law. The MJSDL is affiliated with the Faculty of Law at McGill University and is fully bilingual. Our 2020-2021 Editor in Chief, Arsalan Ahmed, provides an introductory note introducing this volume.
Frankie Young
Economic development provides a pathway for Indigenous peoples to become self-sustaining. Yet, constraints in current Canadian laws and legislation impact the ability of Indigenous Nations to create and develop sustainable economies on their own terms. Consequently, alleviating the poverty and economic disadvantage plaguing Indigenous communities in Canada, while preserving Indigenous culture, requires some creativity. One solution is to integrate Indigenous economies into the “mainstream economy.” However, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that when Indigenous peoples participate in the mainstream economy, they do so on the same terms as non-Indigenous peoples. This approach results in the danger that an Indigenous Nation’s cultural and traditional values — that which makes them a Nation — are at risk of being compromised in the course of doing “mainstream” business. While various contemporary forms of asset governance, including non-profit or corporate structures, may assist in advancing Indigenous economies, an unconventional hybrid structure may more closely align with the ambitions of Indigenous communities seeking to merge business enterprise with social purpose and the communal values inherent to many Indigenous cultures. This article discusses the various corporate structures available to Bands in Canada then critiques the newly available hybrid structures for how they may or may not meet the sui generis needs of Indigenous Nations.
Caecilia Alexandre, Véronique Guèvremont, Iris Richer
The 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions provides a suitable framework to guide Parties towards a better "Living Together" in our society. However, this objective cannot be achieved without valuing all cultures, which necessarily includes the cultures of Indigenous peoples. Actions in this regard contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They also stimulate the renewal of intercultural dialogue in Canada and Quebec. These actions must, however, be carried out with respect for the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples recognized by the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Taking this imperative into account, this paper sets out the place afforded to indigenous cultural expressions within the 2005 Convention and clarifies the commitments of the Parties with respect to them. The measures for the protection and promotion of Indigenous cultural expressions implemented by Canada and Quebec are then examined and compared with the actions taken by some Parties to the 2005 Convention in favour of indigenous communities. In so doing, this paper seeks to foster the use of new forms of support for Indigenous cultural expressions, in accordance with the requirements of the 2005 Convention, and so as to support the reconciliation processes in Canadian and Quebec society.
Andrée-Anne Côté-Jinchereau, Christophe Krolik, Evelyne Thiffault, Luc Bouthillier
With a view to energy transition, the production and consumption of forest bioenergy, recognized as an important tool in the fight against climate change and the global energy transition by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), is a particularly interesting energy sector for Quebec. The province has the opportunity to use a considerable volume of forest biomass in order to revitalize its forest industry while fighting climate change. Despite this potential, Quebec forest law constitutes, in certain respects, an obstacle to the development of forest biomass production and an evolution of the legal framework is called for. The objective of this article is to identify the limits of the legal framework of Quebec’s public forests, mainly the Sustainable Forest Management Act, and to suggest possible solutions. This article focuses on the issues of the production of residual forest biomass as well as timber without takers, i.e. the availability and cost of harvest and ecosystem preservation. Forest planning must be rethought in order to better integrate forest biomass harvesting operations, which should be considered as a tool that contributes to the fight against climate change. Access to biomass must be promoted economically through harvesting rights terms that are more suited to the reality of production chains. In this perspective, a new legal definition of forest biomass is proposed, including merchantable timber unwanted by industry, timber without takers, with the aim of better managing forests with a view to mitigate climate change. Finally, this article suggests possible solutions to better reconcile the preservation of the forest ecosystem and the harvest of forest biomass.
Benjamin T. Johnson
This article reviews the recent book, Regulation of Extractive Industries: Community Engagement in the Arctic. The book is an edited collection by Rachael Lorna Johnstone and Anne Merrild Hansen and is focused on engagement and consultation practices between Arctic communities and resource development actors. The collection contains thirteen chapters from authors with various backgrounds including the law, public policy, social sciences, and business. The authors consider the legal regimes governing community interaction with extractive actors and their geographies, histories, and experiences, emphasizing the place of Indigenous peoples. Overall, this diversity supports the book's intersectional appeal to researchers interested in the Arctic, community engagement, and extractive development more broadly.
Martin-Joe Ezeudu
After 26 years of waiting, Professor Barry Barton has finally provided a rebranded and information-packed second edition of the Canadian Law of Mining, first published in 1993 by the Canadian Institute of Resources Law. This review provides insight into this work in which Barton sets out to and achieves the goal of conceptualizing mining law as a distinctive field of law, much like other popular fields of law. He also takes the opportunity in this book to explore some of the more topical issues and recent innovations in the mining industry, such as the social framework for mining, the Aboriginal title to minerals in Canada, and online staking of claims, among others. While the book has its shortcomings, on the whole, Barton succeeds in making the subject matter accessible to a readership far beyond mining scholars and practitioners.
