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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A ug us t 4, 20 22 | 28 www.concretetrimmings.com CONCRETE FREE ESTIMATES 905-844-5518 1-888-944-5518 uality At Its Best! Call Fernando 1-888-944-5518 www 1-888-944-5518 • DRIVEWAYS • FRENCH CURBS • PATIOS • STEPS • WALKWAYS • GARAGE FLOORS ExposEd aggrEgatE (pebble) Animal lovers, advocates and activists... rejoice! Spearheaded by Canada's ef- forts for reconciliation, legal ac- tors and law institutions have within the last decade integrat- ed Indigenous legal orders as part of their curriculum and practice. Some of Canada's most prom- inent legal minds, such as the Hon. Beverley McLachlin, who was the longest-serving chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, have called for Indige- nous legal orders and traditions to become integrated with Cana- da's conceptualization of the law. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ANIMAL LOVERS? Before this movement, the le- gal landscape of Canada was mainly concerned with the de facto common law and Quebec's civil law, both of which regularly view animals as chattel (proper- ty). This anthropocentric view of animals in Canada considers hu- mans as superior to other ani- mals, removing notions of "per- sonhood" and other non-anthro- pocentric views that allow the law to regard animals as kin or entities of merit. In its current state, the com- mon law has a lack of legal pre- cedent that often makes it diffi- cult when trying to develop stronger, more robust animal rights. ANIMAL RIGHTS MAY HAVE ROOM TO IMPROVE IN CANADA Maneesha Deckha, a law pro- fessor at the University of Victo- ria in British Columbia, pub- lished the article "Unsettling Anthropocentric Legal Systems: Reconciliation, Indigenous Laws, and Animal Personhood," which discusses Indigenous le- gal orders relating to animals and how they vary from Cana- da's common law. "Animal advocates are often stymied by the law's dismal re- gard for animals as property when seeking even incremental and modest law reform in favour of animals," she writes. She draws comparison to the recent United States animal rights case, where a group known as the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) argued on behalf of non-human animals. The NhRP sought to establish legal personhood for all animals, starting with chimpanzees and other humanlike animals. "Judges who were otherwise sympathetic to the NhRP's claim, lamented that the lack of legal precedent or authority in the common law tradition ties their hands to recognize animals as persons even though they agreed with the NHRP that their chimpanzee clients are not just things," she writes. She also notes that, as part of Canada's effort of reconcilia- tion, a movement toward under- standing Indigenous cosmology and its interspecies perspective can help to decolonize national legal and social orders. CAN INDIGENOUS CULTURES OF CANADA TIP THE SCALE IN FAVOUR OF ANIMAL RIGHTS? Various academics and law professors think so. Deckha writes that "Some scholars have discussed how In- digenous cultures in Canada in- corporate an understanding of personhood that is non-anthro- pocentric." Likewise, Indigenous legal researcher Andrew Brighten has defined personhood as: " ... the idea that animals are active individuals capable of in- tentional social interaction that can be understood via the same basic relational concepts used to conceptualize human social in- teraction -- such as reciprocal exchange... and are in a sense different from (or more techni- cally, members of a different on- tological category from) passive objects that react mechanistical- ly to physical forces." But this is where Indigenous cultures may become a legal cor- nucopia for Canadian support- ers of animal rights. Brighten writes that "Canadi- an aboriginal world views are built on notions of animal per- sonhood in the primary, social- ontological category as humans, insofar as they consider animals to be conscious, sentient beings who possess volition, plan and deliberate, interact socially and communicate with each other and with humans." Brighten states that, as an ex- ample, the Rock Cree of Manito- ba believe that animals are in possession of something known as ahcak, which is a mindfulness shared by both humans and ani- mals. The ahcak is described as "the seat of identity, perception and intelligence" by Robert Bright- man, an American anthropolo- gist and professor who has au- thored inquisitive books about the Manitoba Cree. And this conception is exten- sive among Indigenous cultures of Canada. For example, the Waswanipi, Makah, Inuit, In- upiat, James Bay Cree, Gitxaala, Ojibwa, Chipewyan, Mistassini and Mi'kmaq all have similar yet idiosyncratic notions of inter- species personhood. SO THERE YOU HAVE IT The Indigenous cosmological and ontological world views on animals and interspecies per- sonhood may become a legal foundation for Canadian animal activists. In the leading years, a new le- gal precedent stemming from In- digenous culture may be the fo- cus point of litigants and jurists of a courtroom who attempt to establish the barrier of person- hood and its applicability to ani- mals. If the courtrooms embrace such favorable views, the deci- sion could profoundly change any industry dealing with ani- mals, such as livestock, agricul- ture, and the food industry. And if dairy cows are estab- lished to possess the legal capac- ity of personhood, extra-mea- sures like consent and willing- ness may be required as an in- dustry standard. It is interesting to ask one- self... does a cow wish to be milked? NEWS ANIMAL ACTIVISTS MAY HAVE NEW WEAPON AGAINST CRUELTY KYLE MACDONALD kmacdonald@ metroland.com HOW INDIGENOUS CULTURES MAY RESHAPE NATIONAL LEGAL ORDERS AND ANIMAL RIGHTS From the kennel to the couch, an ex-racing greyhound enjoys some human comforts. Kyle G. MacDonald photo