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Innu family wins battle with band council The McKenzies, an Innu family from the Sept-Îles area, have overcome yet another legal obstacle in their fight to have their aboriginal rights respected. But this victory features a strange twist: this time, the obstacle came from their own band council. >> Back in December 1996, the McKenzies filed for a permanent injunction against a proposed mining project on traditional Innu territory. But the local band council, which is more conciliatory on development issues, asked the court to suspend the family's action for one year. The Quebec Court of Appeal has categorically rejected the band council's request. >> In his judgment, Justice Louis LeBel stated that the council's request does not respect "the fundamental right of every Canadian citizen to a judicial hearing for the protection of their constitutional rights... it would tend to subsume the individual rights of First Nations members into their collective expression [such as band councils]." >> In his 30 years of experience dealing with aboriginal legal matters, James O'Reilly, the McKenzie family's lawyer, told the Mirror he can't remember a case in which a band council tried to stop its members from exercising their rights in court. While aboriginal titles are usually defended collectively, O'Reilly says this ruling solidly establishes that "the court will get involved in any dispute that's brought by even members of a nation." >> The McKenzies say the mine would be located on territory which is protected under constitutional and aboriginal rights to hunt, fish and trap. >> With the band council now out of the way, the McKenzies have bigger fish to fry. According to O'Reilly, if the McKenzies' injunction is granted by the court, "It would literally mean that the whole territory [north of Sept-Îles] would be subject to the rights of the Innu Nation. If the McKenzies win, the Innu would be able to stop the whole Churchill Falls project--at least all the elements in Quebec." --Wayne Hiltz
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