The Duty to Consult and Colonial Capitalism: Indigenous Rights and Extractive Industries in the Inuit Homeland in Canada

Abstract

This article contributes to academic debates about the relationship between Indigenous rights and the expansion of capitalism and colonialism in Canada. Using case studies of duty to consult litigation related to resource extraction on and near Inuit territory, I argue that Inuit experiences with the duty to consult have been mixed. While Inuit have won some important victories in the courts, in other cases the duty to consult has provided a notably weak legal mechanism for Inuit to either stop unwanted extraction or compel the government to impose effective mitigation measures to safeguard Inuit harvesting rights. The duty to consult appears to mostly enable, rather than impede, the expansion of colonial and capitalist social relations in the Inuit homeland.