Castonguay and Faucher v R, 2006 NBCA 43

This case was heard before the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, and it was an appeal of the decisions in R. v. Castonguay, 2003 NBPC 16, and R. v. Castonguay, 2003 NBQB 325.

The appellants, Roger Castonguay and François Faucher, had been convicted at trial under section 67(2) of New Brunswick's Crown and Forest Lands Act. Specifically, Mr. Faucher was charged with cutting timber on government land, and Mr. Castonguay was charged with possession of that timber. At trial, the accuseds argued that their Métis identities gave them Aboriginal rights to cut and possess timber. This argument failed at trial, and it failed again when the accuseds appealed to the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench. 

On appeal before the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, Mr. Castonguay and Mr. Faucher once again argued that they had Aboriginal rights to cut and possess timber, and they argued that the lower courts had erred in determining otherwise.

Following the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R v Powley, [2003] 2 SCR 207, the Court of Appeal held that the applicants had failed to prove that their Métis identies gave them the Aboriginal rights they had claimed. The Court of Appeal held that the lower courts had decided the case directly, and it dismissed the appellants' appeal.

View the Decision on CanLII: www.canlii.org/en/nb/nbca/doc/2006/2006nbca43/2006nbca43.html

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