Indian Residential School Case Law, Genocide, And Settler...

Introduction: The Aboriginal peoples of Canada have taken on great suffering from the colonization of the settlers of Canada. However, the effect of colonization has not disappeared from the Canadian society. Indigenous Residential Schools (IRS) played a major role in the cultural loss or genocide of the Aboriginals. Presently, IRS litigation is trying to reveal the effects of the IRS and how the justice system needs to acknowledge that cultural genocide was a consequence of IRS. This socio-legal issue is the focus of the article,† Troubling the Path to Decolonization: Indian Residential School Case Law, Genocide, and Settler Illegitimacy,† written by Leslie Thielen-Wilson. Author’s Argument: The author argues that the Indian†¦show more content†¦This idea is drawn from the decision made in Haida Nation v Canada, and how the IRS litigation is an avenue to uphold the settler’s sovereignty currently. In Part II, the author looks at the Blackwater v Plint case, and how it only reveal some of Canada’s wrongdoings in the eyes of law, and what can be considered as being vicariously responsible. This case is looked upon as a business partnership between the Canadian government and the Church, and what qualifies them to be vicariously responsible and what is considered an actionable tort. The article discusses how the settler’s collective vision and claim of sovereignty are not legitimate, but the Canadian government wants to withstand any legal implications solely because it is believed that settlers have superiority and can dehumanize Indigenous people. Evidence: In support of the author’s main claims, the article presents supporting evidence in the text with the usage of the court decisions from Blackwater v Plint. The author supported their thesis by analyzing each phase of the case in court and the decisions that went along with it. It was seen in phase 1, that Justice Brenner 1998 phase-one decision is considered a landmark decision in that it holds both Canada and the United Church vicariously responsible for the sexual assaults committed by Plint. ( Thielen-Wilson, 187). The author interprets this, is that this brings forth the racial ontology of property†¦ â€Å"no-fault† responsibility is