Summary

For many years, scholars have called for the inclusion of Indigenous legal traditions into Canada’s laws. In Volume 6 of its final report, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) echoes this as a path to inclusiveness, access to justice and ultimately reconciliation. The duty to consult is also entrenched in Treaty and Aboriginal Rights, which can also apply to mental health. The Objectives of this presentation are: to review Indigenous legal traditions as they apply to mental health and suggest their level of suitability for inclusion in mental health laws (MHLs) - to assess the degree to which human rights and other progressive legal principles are being incorporated into inclusive MHL design