Patriation and Section 35: The Role of Allan Blakeney in Securing Indigenous Rights

This paper will attempt to do four things. First, it will review some of the background essential to understanding how Indigenous leaders were involved in the patriation process and why section 35 was adopted as part of the patriation package. Second, it will elaborate on the role of former Premier Allan Blakeney of Saskatchewan in securing the adoption of section 35. Third, it will examine some of the expectations for significant structural change to the Canadian political system that were contemplated by the non-Indigenous participants involved in the patriation negotiations and, most importantly, why those expectations were never met. Finally, the paper will attempt to answer the fundamental question: are Indigenous peoples and their rights protected by the adoption of a general section 35, or has the existence of such a general provision actually hindered progress toward a more complete reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada?