ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Professors Cotler and Mahoney focus on former Prime Minister Paul Martin’s promise to make Indigenous Justice the central commitment of his government from 2003 to 2006. The authors concentrate on the seven “Rs” plan, which included recognition, respect, representation, responsiveness, redress, reconciliation and renewal. They describe how the most important aspect is recognition, as without recognition of both the past and present history, healthy reciprocal relations are not possible. By way of illustration, they provide an historical account of the Residential School negotiations and the Settlement Agreement to demonstrate the seven “Rs” in practice. They reveal how the Assembly of First Nations was instrumental in ensuring that the goals and objectives of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and its overall mandate, reflected Indigenous legal principles and values. Consequently, adopting Indigenous laws and legal traditions to legal problems can provide a measure of justice to Indigenous peoples not available through the common law system Canada inherited from the British and French colonizers.
