Structural barriers to First Nations governance over health and justice can be dismantled by shifting legal, financial, and administrative power directly to Indigenous communities. Historically, colonial frameworks like the Indian Act and jurisdictional disputes between provincial and federal governments have restricted First Nations from exercising full self-determination. Overcoming these barriers requires a coordinated and extensive revisions of funding models, legislative jurisdiction, and institutional design.
Systemic racism is the primary architect of the structural barriers that prevent First Nations from exercising self-determination over their own health and justice systems. Colonial frameworks were intentionally built on racial hierarchies to strip First Nations of authority, and those legacy structures continue to actively suppress Indigenous jurisdiction today.
Removing structural barriers requires legally shifting power and resources from mainstream government agencies directly to First Nations governments. For decades, state systems treated First Nations as "clients" of public services; systemic policy and legal reforms are now designed to formalize them as sovereign partners and legislators.
This Session examines constitutional and non-constitutional legal mechanisms to achieve full recognition, self-determination rights, and sovereignty for First Nations in Canada.