The Lasting Breach: The Omission of Aboriginal People from the Terms of Union Between Newfoundland and Canada and its Ongoing Impacts [Royal Commission on Renewing and Strengthening Our Place in Canada]

"The 1949 Terms of Union between Newfoundland and Canada made no mention of Aboriginal people in the new province. This deviated from standard practice when a jurisdiction joined the Canadian federation and First Nations people were registered, reserves created, and programs and services delivered. Because there was no mention of First Nations, the Indian Act was not applied in Newfoundland. This meant that the province’s Innu and Mi’kmaq were ineligible for the range of programs and services enjoyed by their counterparts in continental Canada. In fact, they did not exist in law and thus lacked the recognition as previously sovereign nations that their counterparts enjoyed elsewhere in Canada. Thus, their situation is unique in the country. Indeed, recognition for them and for the Inuit and their cousins, the Labrador Metis, has come very slowly and in piecemeal fashion. The omission has had lasting negative repercussions in Newfoundland and Labrador in terms of community health, community infrastructure, and land claims, etc. While the Labrador Inuit land claim moves towards resolution, there remain three other outstanding claims in the province."