R v Van der Peet
R v Van der Peet, [1996] 2 S.C.R. 507 is a leading case on Aboriginal rights under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Supreme Court held that Aboriginal fishing rights did not extend to commercial selling of fish. From this case came the Van der Peet test for determining if an Aboriginal right exists. This is the first of three cases known as the Van der Peet trilogy which included "R v NTC Smokehouse Ltd" and "R v Gladstone".

On September 11, 1987, Steven and Charles Jimmy caught sockeye salmon near Chilliwack. The men were both holders of valid native food fish licenses, so the fish were legally caught, but they were forbidden from selling the fish. Charles Jimmy brought the fish to his common-law partner, Dorothy Van der Peet, a member of the Stó:lō Nation, and she cleaned the fish and set them on ice. Van der Peet was visited by Marie Lugsdin, a non-Indigenous person, who offered to purchase ten fish at $5 a piece, for a total of $50. Van der Peet agreed and was later charged, under British Columbia Fishery Regulations, with having unlawfully sold fish caught under a food (only) fish license.

At trial, the judge held that the Aboriginal right to fish for food and ceremonial purposes did not extend to the right to sell fish commercially. A summary appeal judge overturned the verdict, but it was subsequently overturned at the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

The issue before the Court was whether the law preventing sale of the fish infringed Van der Peet's Aboriginal rights under section 35.
Q863284
Aboriginal
Concept
Q7444674
section 35
ORG
Q868875
Constitution Act, 1982
LOC
Q196615
Supreme Court
MEDIA
None
R v NTC Smokehouse Ltd
UNK
Q7274218
R v Gladstone
EVE
Q983026
Chilliwack
LOC
Stó:lō
UNK
Q4969691
British Columbia Court of Appeal
MEDIA
Q7274329
R v Van der Peet
EVE
1982-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1982
DATE
1987-09-11T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
September 11, 1987
DATE
+1996^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1996
NUMBER
+2^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
2
NUMBER
+35^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
35
NUMBER
+5^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
5
NUMBER
+50^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
50
NUMBER
+35^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
35
NUMBER
court
part of
publication date