Letter to the editor : Canada did not acquire all Indigenous lands be negotiation

Notes: "A letter from Judy Hunter] in your January [2023] issue (“Article corrected common error about Doctrine of Discovery,” p. 4) says that Canada did not acquire Indigenous lands by force, but only by negotiation. However, in British Columbia there was virtually no negotiation; with few exceptions the settler government simply sent in surveyors, appropriated land, and suppressed protests. In Quebec and the Maritime provinces, there are few land treaties, since settlement preceded the treaty process established by the Royal Proclamation of 1763. And in Ontario there are large tracts of unceded territory which settlers inhabit even though Aboriginal land rights haven’t ever been extinguished. As for the areas where treaties do exist, courts have confirmed that in many cases the negotiations were problematic". [Text of entire article.]; Author is "Professor emeritus, church history, Wycliffe College", University of Toronto.

Subjects: Indigenous peoples - Canada - Land tenure; Indigenous peoples - Canada - Claims; Indigenous peoples - Canada - Treaties; Doctrine of Discovery - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada