Reconciliation Through Education

The federal United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act mandates key actions from Canada to support the advancement of the rights of Indigenous peoples. This includes, among other matters, the right for Indigenous peoples to establish and control their education systems, and for Indigenous children to have access to education that appropriately reflects their cultures. Focusing on elementary and secondary education, this article examines how Canada can best realize Articles 14 and 15.1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (“UNDRIP”) which concern Indigenous peoples’ governance and access to education. The article analyzes the British Columbia Tripartite Education Agreement and the Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Education Agreement as examples of Crown-Indigenous agreements that support the realization of the education rights established by UNDRIP. This article suggests that these rights can be better realized through the codification of education agreements and by requiring conformity with UNDRIP, as seen in the recent British Columbia Court of Appeal ruling of Gitxaala v British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner).