The Alice in Wonderland Dimension of the Canadian Judicial System

Abstract

When I first began working with First Nations political organizations, a childhood friend who had become a rising star in the Ottawa public service told me, Indian Affairs (DIAND) is the funny farm of the civil service. Sadly, in the several decades since that conversation very little has changed. On the contrary the very qualities that won DIAND that award have, more recently, made Aboriginal land claims process, and particularly specific claims the Alice in Wonderland (AIW) of the Canadian Judicial System. It is this dubious quality, and particularly its significance for the judicial system that I want to share with reads of SLAW.