Summary
In February 2021, the Minganie Regional County Municipality (MRC) adopted a resolution recognizing the Magpie River (Muteshekau-shipu in the Innu language) as a legal person with rights. This is the second of two parallel resolutions advanced by the Muteshekau-shipu Alliance. The first resolution was adopted by the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit in January. This is the first such case in Canada.
Jurisprudential Framing
“The Minganie MRC recognizes that, in order to protect the Magpie River, its ecosystem, its species, and its residents, it must ensure the protection of the Magpie River by granting it legal personhood and rights.” More than 85% of the Magpie River lies within the territory of the Minganie MRC.
The resolution explicitly refers to the Indigenous legal traditions and their symbiotic ancestral relationship with the Magpie River. The resolution states that “The Minganie Regional County Municipality (MRC) and the Ekuanitshit Innu Council have reached a mutual agreement regarding the urgent need to declare the Magpie River a subject of law, in order to better protect it as a habitat.” The resolutions mutually resolve to recognize the river as possessing nine rights, including the right to evolve naturally and be protected, to be free of pollution, and to have standing in court.
Guardians for the river will be appointed on both sides by the Minganie MRC and the Ekuanitshit Innu Council. The river’s legal guardians will hold the primary responsibility for ensuring that these rights are respected, and empowered to take legal action on behalf of the Magpie River.
Muteshekau-shipu Alliance
The Minganie MRC is a political entity made up of the mayor of each municipality in the Minganie region and the prefect. The founding members of the Muteshekau-shipu Alliance are the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit, the Minganie MRC, CPAWS Quebec, and the Association Eaux-Vives Minganie. The International Observatory on the Rights of Nature, based in Montreal, Canada, helped draft the resolutions in collaboration with the Alliance.
Involved Organizations
Related Initiatives
Suggested Citation:
Kauffman, Craig, Catherine Haas, Alex Putzer, Shrishtee Bajpai, Kelsey Leonard, Elizabeth Macpherson, Pamela Martin, Alessandro Pelizzon & Linda Sheehan. Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. V2. 2025. Distributed by the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor.https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/recognition-of-legal-personality-and-rights-of-the-magpie-river/.
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