Case information

Constitutional law — Aboriginal law — Aboriginal rights — Métis — Hunting — Did the courts below err in failing to recognize Métis Aboriginal rights in the DRSM region? — Did the courts below err in their application of the principles of evidence for Indigenous cases? — Did the courts below err by failing to recognize and address the Crown’s refusal to acknowledge and document the history of Métis communities in Québec? — Act Respecting Lands in the Domain of the State, CQLR, T 8.1

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

In 1999, Ghislain Corneau was charged under section 54 of the Act Respecting Lands in the Domain of the State, CQLR, T 8.1 with building a hunting camp on public lands without the Crown’s authorization. Mr. Corneau’s hunting camp, located in the district of Chicoutimi, was seized by the Crown. In his defence, Mr. Corneau asked for recognition of his Métis right to hunt. As litigation proceeded over the following years, several other hunting camps in the vicinity were seized by the Crown with corresponding claims of Métis rights. The Supreme Court for Québec found that an historical Métis community did not exist in the area known as Domaine du Roy et de la Seigneurie de Mingan where the hunting camps were located and dismissed Mr. Corneau’s defence under s. 35 of the constitution. On appeal, the Court of Appeal of Québec determined that the trial judge made errors in their analysis but that the conclusion was correct. The appeal was dismissed.