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Building a hunting cabin in a provincial park is reasonably incidental to the treaty right to hunt.
The respondent, a Treaty 6 Indian, built a log cabin in a provincial park to use while hunting.
He was convicted under provincial park regulations for building a dwelling without permission.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that the construction of the cabin was reasonably incidental to the respondent's treaty right to hunt, which traditionally involved an expeditionary method requiring shelter.
The provincial regulations conflicted with this treaty right and were therefore inapplicable to the respondent under s. 88 of the Indian Act.
The Crown's appeal was dismissed.
Child support may be varied on one material change alone.
The appellant sought an upward variation of child support after a separation agreement had been incorporated into a divorce judgment and the payor's income rose dramatically.
The Supreme Court held that under s. 17(4) of the Divorce Act, a material change in either the condition, means, needs or other circumstances of either former spouse or any child is sufficient to trigger variation; a change in both parental and child circumstances is not required.
The Court further held that once the threshold for variation is met, the judge may reassess child support in light of the present circumstances of the parties and children, while recognizing that child support is the right of the child and that children may benefit from improvements in a parent's standard of living.
The Court restored the chambers judge's increased child support order and held the Court of Appeal had no basis to intervene.
