The Supreme Court docket of Canada has denied an attraction by Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) to revisit previous choices by decrease courts.
This determination successfully upholds earlier rulings from Ontario courts, which discovered that whereas the Crown breached the honour of its dedication, it didn’t have a fiduciary responsibility to maintain its promise to safeguard these lands. This authorized journey, which started in 1994, goals to carry Canada and Ontario accountable for failing to guard the Bruce Peninsula as promised to the Saugeen Ojibway individuals within the early nineteenth century.
Ogimaaa (Chief) Gregory Nadjiwon of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation says they continue to be decided to hunt compensation and substantive treatments for the historic wrongs they argue have been inflicted upon them by means of breaches of treaty obligations, and the honour of the Crown.
“It is disappointing that the Supreme Court docket is not going to listen to from us concerning the significance of the Crown retaining its treaty guarantees, about why it’s a relationship that must be held to the excessive commonplace of a fiduciary obligation, however we are going to push ahead to carry the Crown accountable for his or her wrongs,” Nadjiwon stated.
SON’s authorized declare demanded the return of all Crown land on the Bruce Peninsula, compensation for misplaced lands, and recognition of Aboriginal title over elements of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. The declare arose from a grievance relating to Treaty 45 1/2, signed in 1836, which noticed SON give up 1.5 million acres of land south of Owen Sound to the Crown. In return, the Crown dedicated to defending the Saugeen Peninsula for SON, guaranteeing it might stay free from settler encroachment. Nonetheless, as European settlers started encroaching on SON lands, the Crown ignored SON’s repeated complaints and didn’t safeguard the Peninsula, finally compelling SON to signal Treaty 72 in 1854. This treaty allowed settlers onto a lot of the Peninsula, a call SON leaders contend was made beneath duress.
Ogimaa (Chief) Conrad Ritchie of Saugeen First Nation says they may proceed to push to carry the Crown accountable.
“We’re hopeful from different latest developments within the regulation that there have to be actual efforts and motion to make issues proper when the Crown has breached its honour. We hope that Canada and Ontario will work with us to come back to a good and simply decision. We stay dedicated to looking for a treatment that displays our longstanding relationship to our lands and is about making proper what we misplaced,” Ritchie stated.
In 2021, Ontario’s Superior Court docket acknowledged that the Crown broke its promise to guard SON lands, citing a breach within the honor of the Crown. Nonetheless, the courtroom additionally decided that the Crown didn’t have a fiduciary responsibility (a authorized obligation to behave solely in SON’s curiosity) to uphold this promise. SON contended that the Crown’s dedication to guard the Peninsula ought to have been handled as a fiduciary responsibility, given the connection between the Crown and Indigenous peoples in Canada. Ontario’s Court docket of Enchantment upheld this ruling in 2023, concluding that whereas the Crown broke its promise, it was not obligated to behave solely for SON’s profit.
The Supreme Court docket’s refusal to listen to the case has left SON with no additional authorized avenue to problem the absence of fiduciary responsibility. SON’s lawyer, Cathy Guirgis, famous that the Supreme Court docket supplied no causes for its determination, a normal follow for denied appeals.
The decrease courts’ rulings not solely dismissed SON’s declare of fiduciary responsibility but additionally curtailed its Aboriginal title claims over intensive waters across the Peninsula. The Court docket of Enchantment agreed that SON didn’t maintain Aboriginal title over massive swaths of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay however left the door open for SON to pursue title to particular areas, equivalent to waters close to Hope Bay. A course of for figuring out and assessing potential title claims in these waters is now underway, though no listening to dates have been set.
