Current Problems: Treaties and Land Claims
Exploring Theme: "Court Cases"
Updates on this page: 32
July 21, 2024
Flooding caused by failed muskrat management project in 1940s destroyed Manitoba First Nation’s lands: lawsuit
Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation accuses provincial government of turning much of its lands to ‘unusable muskeg’ CBC Indigenous: A First Nation along the western shores of Lake Winnipeg is suing the provincial government after it alleges flooding caused by a dam over 80 years ago “effectively confiscated” a chunk of its land. Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation accuses...
July 12, 2024
Legal Notice to Beneficiaries of the Robinson Huron Treaty
NationTalk: Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Garden River First Nation have commenced a court application against the lawyers for the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund. The application says that the lawyer’s fees were too high and it asks the court to reduce them (the “Assessment Application”). The Litigation Management Committee of the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund...
July 8, 2024
Blueberry River First Nations Returns to Court to Uphold Treaty Rights and Enforce Landmark Agreement
NationTalk: BLUEBERRY RIVER FIRST NATIONS, BC – Blueberry River First Nations (Blueberry) has filed a Notice of Civil Claim (NOCC) against the Province of British Columbia (the Province) in order to protect Blueberry’s Treaty rights and enforce the Province’s constitutional, fiduciary and contractual obligations. In January 2023, Blueberry and the Province reached an historic agreement...
July 3, 2024
B.C. hereditary chief gets house arrest for pipeline blockade
Chief invoked Wet’suwet’en law for protecting land and water against Coastal GasLink CBC News: A Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief will serve a 60-day jail sentence under house arrest for disrupting pipeline construction through Wet’suwet’en traditional territory in northern British Columbia in October 2021. “A jail sentence is required in this case,” said Justice Michael Tammen as...
June 24, 2024
Sipekne’katik First Nation granted a temporary adjournment to allow for mediation with the Crown
NationTalk: HALIFAX, NS – A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has granted a joint request from the Sipekne’katik First Nation and the Attorney General of Canada to adjourn trial dates that would have aimed to settle treaty fishing rights disputes. The court has decided to give the involved parties until December 12, 2024, to have a...
June 10, 2024
First Nations challenge lawyers over their $510M legal bill for the Robinson treaties annuities case
Legal team successfully argued the past annuities case that was settled for $10B in 2023 APTN News: Discontent and criticism over the $510 million being paid to the lawyers who argued the Robinson Huron treaty annuities case is spilling into an Ontario court room. Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Garden River First Nation filed an application asking...
March 30, 2024
Province, Wolastoqey argue over striking portions of big title claim
First Peoples Law Report: The Penticton Herald: The Canadian Press – New Brunswick’s provincial government has asked a judge to toss key portions of the big Aboriginal title claim filed by the Wolastoqey Nation for more than half of the province’s territory. The province argues the Indigenous leaders who launched the court action in 2020...
February 28, 2024
First Nations praise ruling ‘forcing’ Crown to protect interests
Chief says partial win at top court could change dynamic in relationship with resource industries CBC Indigenous: For decades, Stellat’en Chief Robert Michell says his First Nation has been caught in a loop of frustration when demanding change to deal with problems caused by the Kenney Dam. The company which operates both the dam and an associated reservoir...
February 9, 2024
Algonquin Nation nuclear waste site court challenge a ‘litmus test’ for federal United Nations Declaration Act
By Matteo Cimellaro & Natasha Bulowski | News, Urban Indigenous Communities in Ottawa Lance Haymond, chief of Kebaowek First Nation, at the final licensing hearing for the near-surface disposal facility on Aug. 10, 2023. Photo by Natasha Bulowski / Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: An Algonquin Nation is taking Ottawa to court over the approval of a nuclear...
February 7, 2024
Manitoba chief proposes class action against feds over ‘effectively worthless’ $5 treaty payments
Treaty 4 signatories ‘never intended for the annuities to be frozen in time,’ Waywayseecappo chief’s suit says CBC Indigenous: A Manitoba First Nation chief is joining a growing list of Indigenous communities that allege the federal government has violated treaty agreements by not increasing $5 annuity payments to keep up with inflation over the past 150 years. Waywayseecappo First...
February 7, 2024
Kebaowek First Nation launches judicial review of Chalk River waste disposal project
APTN News: An Algonquin community in Quebec is launching a judicial review of a decision by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to allow the disposal of limited kinds of nuclear waste at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories campus in Deep River, Ont., located about 180 km west of Ottawa in Quebec. In its application to...
December 17, 2023
Ktunaxa First Nation responds to lawsuit
(Adobe stock photo) First Peoples Law Report: Last month Ktunaxa First Nation responded to Taranis Resources Inc’s lawsuit regarding the Thor copper project near Trout Lake in Ktunaxa’s traditional territory northeast of Nakusp. “The best way for British Columbia to ensure Ktunaxa rights are protected is to receive our free prior and informed consent, which,...
December 16, 2023
Manitoba First Nation sues feds, alleges unchanged $5 annuity payments violate treaty
Class-action status sought in suit against Ottawa by 36 First Nations in Treaty 5 CBC Indigenous: Fisher River Cree Nation wants class-action status for its lawsuit against the federal government, which alleges the $5 annuities paid to Treaty 5 First Nations over the last 148 years violate the agreement because they don’t keep up with inflation....
November 8, 2023
Disagreement among Treaty 8 nations create more uncertainty for B.C. natural gas industry
Blueberry River First Nation Chief Judy Desjarlais at signing ceremony for the Blueberry River Implementation Agreement in January. | BC Government First Peoples Law Report: BIV – Business Intelligence for BC: A legal challenge by Treaty 8 First Nations to an agreement the B.C. government struck with the Blueberry River First Nation is adding to...
September 22, 2023
First Nations in northern Ontario seek over $100B to honour treaty promise
APTN News: The Canadian Press -A legal battle playing out in a northern Ontario courtroom this month has seen an alliance of First Nations argue they are owed upwards of $100 billion for the Crown’s failure to honour a 173-year-old treaty promise, while the federal and provincial governments claim they are either owed far less,...
September 12, 2023
Final arguments begin in a lawsuit that could award Ontario Indigenous groups billions
The Globe and Mail: First published September 11 – It has the potential to be the biggest litigation award in Canadian history and it all hinges on a clause scrawled 173 years ago. First Nations located around the resource-rich northern shore of Lake Superior are asking for $126-billion in compensation for the Crown’s failure to pay...
September 1, 2023
Federal Court rules 2022 elver quota transfer to First Nations fair and reasonable
HALIFAX — The Federal Court has affirmed Ottawa’s move in 2022 to transfer part of the lucrative elver fishery quota in the Maritimes to First Nations fishers. In a written decision dated Aug. NationTalk: Alaska Highway News: HALIFAX — The Federal Court has affirmed Ottawa’s move in 2022 to transfer part of the lucrative elver...
August 6, 2023
Whose Sovereignty? A BC Court Decision Exposes Holes in Colonial Logic
The Nuchatlaht sought to claim title to traditional territory. A ruling dealt a blow to coastal First Nations. The Tyee: First Peoples Law Report – In June, the B.C. Supreme Court issued its decision in The Nuchatlaht v. British Columbia. The court held that the Nuchatlaht failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish their claim to Aboriginal...
July 27, 2023
RECONCILIATION AND ABORIGINAL TITLE: CASE COMMENT ON THE NUCHATLAHT V BRITISH COLUMBIA
By Kate Gunn and Nico McKay Last month, the BC Supreme Court issued its decision in The Nuchatlaht v British Columbia. The Court held that the Nuchatlaht failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish their claim to Aboriginal title on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The decision represents a setback both for the Nuchatlaht and for the...
April 26, 2023
Can the Crown make land decisions without First Nations consent? Treaty 9 lawsuit argues no
Lawyer calls lawsuit ‘frontal attack’ on colonial idea governments have ‘supreme right to rule’ CBC News: Several First Nations have announced their intention to take the Ontario and Canadian governments to court, in a lawsuit their lead lawyer says could fundamentally change the way resource and land management decisions are made in the Treaty 9 area. Leaders...
April 26, 2023
10 First Nations sue Ontario and Canada over resource extraction and broken Treaty 9 promises
Arguing that resource extraction has violated Indigenous jurisdiction for over a century, the case could stall the Ontario government’s plans to mine the Ring of Fire The Narwhal: Ten northern First Nations launched a lawsuit against the Ontario and federal governments Wednesday, arguing that resource extraction on their territories has infringed upon their jurisdiction for...
April 14, 2023
AFN Affirms Support for First Nations’ Assertion of Rights in Treaty 9 Legal Action on Cumulative Impacts
NationTalk: Ottawa, ON – On Tuesday, during its Special Chiefs Assembly, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) adopted a Resolution in support of litigation launched by Chapleau Cree First Nation, Missanabie Cree First Nation, and Brunswick House First Nation (the Treaty 9 Nations). The litigation challenges the Government of Ontario’s failure to uphold the Crown’s obligations...
April 13, 2023
Onion Lake Cree Nation doubles down on legal action to now challenge Sask. First Act
“We want certainty for our First Nations in terms of inclusion, inclusion of the resources from this province of Saskatchewan within our treaty areas.” — Dutch Lerat Windspeaker.com: Onion Lake Cree Nation filed legal papers in court today challenging the Saskatchewan First Act, which received Royal Assent last week. “We will not allow Saskatchewan to run...
March 10, 2023
Crown stays charges against Innu caribou hunters dating back to 2013
Innu Nation grand chief criticizes decision, says charges should be dropped outright CBC News: A decade-long court battle between the Newfoundland and Labrador government and the Innu Nation ended Monday, when the Crown stayed charges against six men accused of illegally hunting and possessing caribou in 2013. The stay means the trial is halted and, unless the Crown decides...
February 10, 2023
A First Nation Sued BC. Then Came a Gas Drilling Frenzy
Now that the Blueberry River First Nations have won a historic agreement, they face thousands of wells greenlit by the regulator. NationTalk: The Tyee: When the Blueberry River First Nations took the provincial government to court in March 2015, arguing that cumulative industrial developments had robbed them of their ability to hunt and fish, oil...
February 8, 2023
Manitoba First Nations man sues federal government for $11B over ‘unfulfilled’ treaty annuity payments
Zongidaya Nelson argues Crown failed to meet treaty obligations with 7 Treaty 1 nations dating back to 1871 CBC News: A First Nations man is seeking $11 billion from the Canadian government on behalf of Treaty 1 status members he argues are owed “full and fair” annual payments promised by the Crown as part of...
February 7, 2023
First Nations owed over $100B under 1850 Ontario treaty: Nobel-winning economist – National Post
Joseph Stiglitz is testifying in a Sudbury, Ont., courtroom why First Nations may have been short-changed under a revenue-sharing treaty signed in 1850 NationTalk: National Post – He is a Nobel prize winner, former vice president of the World Bank and one of the globe’s most famous economists. And this week Joseph Stiglitz is testifying...
February 2, 2023
Ontario says it doesn’t owe First Nations seeking compensation for broken treaty
The Globe and Mail: Indigenous communities are in court seeking billions of dollars in compensation after almost 150 years of receiving small annual payments in return for ceding an area the size of France. But the Ontario government is arguing they are owed nothing, or at most $34-million. The wide divergence in claims was on...
January 26, 2023
Indigenous identity at core of Qalipu membership challenge trial in St. John’s
Final arguments are to be heard next week NationTalk: SaltWire – ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Testimony has wrapped up, but observers across the country are interested to see what comes of a court case in St. John’s involving a group of Mi’kmaw residents whose memberships in the Qalipu First Nation were revoked when a new point system was brought...
January 16, 2023
Qalipu First Nation enrolment controversy reaches ‘pivotal point’ as court challenge begins
Group wants 2013 supplemental agreement abolished CBC News: The long-simmering fight over membership in Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation is entering a new chapter Monday, as a group of people rejected in a controversial enrolment process head to court. The Friends of Qalipu Advocacy Association is challenging a 2013 supplemental agreement between the federal government and...
December 19, 2022
Onion Lake Cree Nation files lawsuit challenging Alberta’s sovereignty act
The Globe and Mail: A First Nation has filed a lawsuit against the Alberta government claiming Premier Danielle Smith’s Sovereignty Act violates the constitutionally recognized treaty rights of its members as it asks a court to strike it down. The Onion Lake Cree Nation, which is located on the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary, filed a statement of claim on Monday,...
December 12, 2022
For generations, Grassy Narrows residents have used the land for hunting. Now, it’s in the middle of a lawsuit between Canadian mining corporations
Ontario has created a mess by granting mining claims on land Grassy Narrows aims to make protected Indigenous territory, First Nation’s leaders say. Toronto Star: Barrick Gold Corp. is embroiled in a $100-million lawsuit against two junior mining companies, as an exploration deal between the firms fell apart over a decision to pause work to...
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