Fifteen Principles
The Fifteen Principles are a legal framework established by Quebec in 1983 to guide its relationships with Indigenous populations, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis residents. This policy acknowledges the rights of Indigenous peoples to self-determination, particularly in areas such as culture, education, language, and economic development. The principles affirm that Indigenous rights, including land claims, are to be negotiated and that these rights apply equally to both men and women. The initiative was influenced by Quebec's desire to assert its identity as a distinct nation, independent of federal jurisdiction regarding Indigenous affairs. Historically, this shift was partly a response to legal interpretations that categorized Inuit peoples within the broader framework of "Indians" under Canadian law. The adoption of the Fifteen Principles marked an effort by Quebec to align itself with Indigenous rights alongside the Canadian government, paving the way for later legal protections for Indigenous peoples under various Canadian laws and international declarations.
Fifteen Principles
In 1983, amid federal constitutional negotiations, the province of Quebec established a legal framework to guide its relationships with the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis residents of Quebec. Known as the Fifteen Principles, the policy statement affirmed that Quebec accepted Native claims to self-determination with respect to culture, education, language, and economic development. It further acknowledged that First Nation residents are entitled to certain rights and land claims (left to be determined by future negotiations). Finally, the Fifteen Principles recognized that those rights applied equally to men and women.
The Fifteen Principles were adopted, in large part, to bolster the claim by the ruling Parti Québécois, a sovereign and social democratic provincial party, that Quebec is a distinct and sovereign nation either within or apart from Canada. If this were to be the case, Quebec could not argue, as it had previously, that the federal government bore sole responsibility for the Indigenous peoples of Canada living within Quebec's borders. In fact, Quebec’s earlier insistence that the federal government must absorb all the costs of Indigenous administration led to the Supreme Court decision that, for legal purposes, Inuit peoples were to be regarded as “Indians” as specified in the British North America Act of 1867. By adopting the Fifteen Principles, Quebec attempted to place itself on equal footing with the Canadian government. Later, Canada's Indigenous people's rights were protected by section thirty-five of the Constitution Act (1982), the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
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"Principles Respecting the Government of Canada's Relationship with Indigenous Peoples." Department of Justice Canada, 2021, www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/principles-principes.html. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.