Self-study
The following passage was written in the late 1980s.
P1
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Problem ·
Legal recognition and preservation of aboriginal rights
Partial solution ·
Constitutional protection of aboriginal rights
Preserves those rights already legally recognized
New problem ·
Inconsistent recognition and establishment of constitutional aboriginal rights by provincial (lower) courts
Provincial courts responsible to interpret Constitution
P2
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Define ·
Aboriginal rights
Ownership of land and resources, self-government, legal recognition of customs
Example ·
Of obstacles to recognition of rights by provincial courts
Provincial courts interpret the right to recognition of customs as applying only to customs held prior to colonization; but aboriginal societies lack legal documentation from that time
P3
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Revisit problem ·
Difficult to establish aboriginal rights in practice
Example ·
Of difficulty establishing rights in practice
Provincial court interpreted “ownership” of land in very limited sense
Author’s perspective ·
On land ownership ruling
Provincial court’s interpretation was too limited, outcome is regrettable and unsatisfactory
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
25.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ █████ ████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████████ ██
a
Other Ontario courts ███ ██████████ ███████████ █████ ██ ███████ ████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ███ ██████████
This lends the most support by helping to establish that the court’s ruling was too conservative in light of existing law. Other courts interpret “ownership” as granting more rights. So, by interpreting “ownership” as granting fewer rights than the other courts did, the 1984 provincial court’s ruling was too conservative.
b
The ruling created █████████ ██ ████ ██ ███████ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████ ██ █ ██████ ████████████
(B) doesn’t help establish anything about the current law and how it treats “ownership,” so it doesn’t help establish that the court’s ruling was too conservative in its assessment of current law.
c
Previous court decisions ██ ███████ ████ █████████████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ████ ███
The 1984 court also distinguished the right to use land from the right to sell it. So (C) doesn’t help establish that the 1984 court’s ruling was too conservative in its assessment of existing law.
d
The ruling prompted ██████████ ██████ ██ █████ █████████ ██ ██████ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ███████
(D) doesn’t help establish anything about the current law and how it treats “ownership,” so it doesn’t help establish that the court’s ruling was too conservative in its assessment of current law.
e
Prior to the ████████ ██ █████████ ███ ██████████ █████ ███ ███ █████ █ ████ ██████████ ███ ██████████████ ████████
(E) doesn’t help establish anything about the current law and how it treats “ownership,” so it doesn’t help establish that the court’s ruling was too conservative in its assessment of current law.