Tag Archives: non-Indigenous lobster fishers

Expect more clashes like the Nova Scotia lobster dispute as Canadians’ rights collide

The ongoing dispute between a Mi’kmaq community and non-Indigenous lobster fishers in Nova Scotia seems like a throwback to a darker and more racist time. We were supposed to have come a long way since that time. So it might seem like this fishery dispute is a throwback, a sign of how far we still have to go in order to truly end racism towards Indigenous peoples and protect their rights in Canada. But unfortunately this dispute isn’t a throwback; it’s probably a look-ahead. This is because the Canadian approach to equality and Indigenous rights, an approach that is baked into our difficult-to-change Constitution and which has been taken up with gusto by the Supreme Court, is based on two opposing views of rights. >click to read< 09:45