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Articles

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2024): The Marshall Decisions and New Brunswick Twenty-Five Years Later.

The Marshall Decisions: Reframing the Supreme Court of Canada’s Guidance on the Peace and Friendship Treaties

  • Thomas Isaac
  • Grace Wu
Submitted
September 2, 2024
Published
2024-09-13

Abstract

The Marshall decisions should be read, and understood, as one comprehensive decision on the Peace and Friendship Treaties and the treaties’ modern-day implications, rather than as three separate decisions. After discussing each of the Marshall decisions, our discussion focuses on the Supreme Court of Canada’s guidance in respect of the treaties’ material provisions, such as the “truckhouse” clause, in each decision. We then trace how the Court’s guidance evolved over the course of the Marshall decisions, providing increasing clarity and nuance in respect of how the treaties should be interpreted.