This thesis is concerned with two central questions. The first is theoretical and asks,
"Can a direct appeal be made to the foundational principles of liberalism to support
collective rights?" The second question is practical and asks: "Would such a defense
serve the interests of contemporary Canadian Aboriginal claims to special
constitutionally recognized collective rights known as the Aboriginal Right?" I utilize
Will Kymlicka's defense of minority rights as the theoretical framework in assessing this
first question and in assessing the latter, I refer to various reported Aboriginal
conceptions of the so-called Aboriginal Right which have been formalized by Aboriginal
people themselves through constitutional addresses, Royal Commission hearings,
discussion papers and legal claims.
Part I of the thesis involves an enquiry into the nature of the revisions that Kymlicka
proposes to make to liberal theory, and asks whether, in making such changes, he is able
to retain identification with the so-called "modern" liberals, with whom Kymlicka
identifies himself, and consistently defend the kind of group minority rights of the sort
actually being claimed in Canadian society today. I conclude that Kymlicka argument
fails in two respects: it fails to do the work required of it by modern liberals and it
ultimately fails to do the work required by the standards of Kymlicka own theory.
In Part II, I argue that even if it were theoretically possible to protect the good of culture
in the way that Kymlicka hopes, such a defense of collective rights fails in the most
important respect: that is, it cannot do the work required of it by the Aboriginal people
for whom it was designed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/5662 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Sandford, Christie |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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