Aboriginal fisheries policy in Atlantic Canada

In 1999 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the aboriginals of Atlantic Canada had a treaty right to maintain a moderate livelihood through fishing. Following this decision, the Government of Canada implemented a plan to provide access to the fisheries. This paper reviews the implementation of the policy and focuses on a specific case where serious disputes arose. Policy implementation is compared to implementation in other jurisdictions and lessons are drawn from what has been described as a mechanistic strategy to effect social change.