In 1215, the Magna Carta began the hereditary monarchy’s eventual loss of power in England, but it was not until 1688 that the Glorious Revolution finally ended the divine right of kings in the United Kingdom. These were significant events in the achievement of democracy, one of mankind’s great accomplishments. Yet last Sunday, 332 years later, the governments of Canada and British Columbia entered into an agreement with the Wet’suwet’en nation that explicitly recognizes its hereditary governance system. As a result, a central tenet of Canada’s system of government will not apply to the way some Indigenous peoples govern their affairs.
That goes counter to Western democratic tradition, not to mention Section 74 of the Indian Act, which permits the responsible minister to order that a chief and band councillors be selected by elections. Entrenching hereditary governance in a formal agreement therefore warrants a close look at what is at stake.
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