R. V. Van Der Peet

R. v. Van der Peet, 2 S.C.R. 507 is a leading case on aboriginal rights under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Supreme Court held that aboriginal fishing rights did not extend to commercial selling of fish. From this case came the Van der Peet test for determining if an aboriginal right exists. This is the first of three cases known as the Van der Peet trilogy which included R. v. N.T.C. Smokehouse Ltd. and R. v. Gladstone.

Dorothy Van der Peet, a member of the Stó:lō Nation, was charged for selling salmon that Steven and Charles Jimmy (Charles being her common-law husband) had lawfully caught under the native food fish licence but was forbidden from selling.

At trial, the judge held that the aboriginal right to fish for food and ceremonial purposes did not extend to the right to sell fish commercially. A summary appeal judge overturned the verdict, but it was subsequently overturned at the Court of Appeal.

The issue before the Court was whether the law preventing sale of the fish infringed Van der Peet's aboriginal rights under section 35.