The Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF) is greatly saddened to receive news of the passing, on September 14, 2020, of Ronald (Bud) Sparrow, a remarkable hero in the fisheries arena.
The Musqueam Band stands at the forefront of aboriginal rights cases in Canada, the most prominent of which (of interest to IOF faculty and students) is Regina v. Sparrow 1990 (SCC). Not only was Sparrow the first test of the new Constitution Act, 1982, section 35(1) provision, which expressly recognizes aboriginal people and unextinguished rights, it also was the first after a long line of unsuccessful aboriginal fishing rights cases in British Columbia to succeed. In the area of fisheries alone, Sparrow opened the way for the ultimate recognition of an aboriginal right to use its catch for commercial purposes.
Ron also faced the downside of his legal action. In court he encountered the resistance of entrenched interests. In the years following the Sparrow decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, rancorous anti-Indian fishing protests and picketing took place in British Columbia, both on the water and on the front lawn of the BC legislature. A modest individual, Ron Sparrow’s reputation is that of a leading fisherman and courageous man. And so he was.
Ron was a semi-regular visitor to the IOF and he will be greatly missed. We are even more saddened that Ron’s passing comes at a time when the IOF is about to welcome our newly hired professor of Indigenous Fisheries Research, Andrea Reid, a member of the Nishga’a Nation, who will be overseeing the revitalize our Aboriginal Fisheries Research initiative.
We grieve for his passing.
- Statement on the passing of Ronald “Bud” Sparrow, Musqueam Nation, September 15, 2020.
- Obituary: Ronald Sparrow won a national precedent protecting Aboriginal fishing rights, Vancouver Sun, September 17, 2020
Tags: Aboriginal fisheries, British Columbia, in memoriam, Indigenous fisheries