Current Problems: Treaties and Land Claims

Exploring Theme: "Land Claims"

Updates on this page: 39
 

December 8, 2023


New Brunswick Indigenous lawsuit ‘unprecedented in this country,’ says lawyer

Wolastoqey Nation wants certification of its title-claim lawsuit, but counsel for those affected want the court to strike down the motion John Chilibeck · Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Daily Gleaner | Posted: Dec. 8, 2023, 8:09 a.m. | Updated: Dec. 8, 2023, 8:09 a.m. | 8 Min Read NationTalk: SALTWIRE – SAINT JOHN, N.B. —...

August 25, 2023


Higgs doubles down on stance that Wolastoqey title claim threatens smaller property owners

Lawyer, Wolastoqey chief maintain assertion by premier is false CBC News: Premier Blaine Higgs and his government are doubling down on their stance that an Aboriginal title claim for roughly half of New Brunswick could impact properties owned by smaller landowners, despite insistence by the claim’s proponents that that’s not what they’re after. The province filed a motion in...

August 25, 2023


Ottawa confirms it changed land claim process, mulls Indian Act changes

The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press – Canada changed the way it settles First Nation land claims, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada confirmed Friday. The department is also mulling over possible amendments to the Indian Act and the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, though it didn’t say what those changes would be. The response...

April 4, 2023


Saugeen First Nation wins treaty ruling on century-old land dispute in Sauble Beach

Town of South Bruce Peninsula says it’s reviewing Ontario court’s decision CBC News: Saugeen First Nation has won a boundary dispute with a municipal government over a stretch of beach that’s a popular tourist destination in Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula. On Tuesday, the First Nation said Superior Court Justice Susan Vella ruled Monday that a strip...

March 14, 2023


Haldimand Tract Litigation New Website and Update

NationTalk: Six Nations of the Grand River Band, under the direction of Elected Council, is suing the governments of Canada and Ontario in a court case that started in 1995. The Band says that under the 1784 Haldimand Proclamation, which it considers a treaty, the British Crown set aside about 950,000 acres of lands along...

March 9, 2023


Mi’kmaq land claim in New Brunswick signals Indigenous nations ‘increasingly assertive over title’

Indigenous peoples in province did not surrender title to land through treaties, says Bruce McIvor First Peoples Law Report: Canadian Lawyer – Last week, the Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn Inc. (MTI), a group of eight Mi’kmaq communities in New Brunswick, circulated a map identifying the lands to which they say the Mi’kmaq Nation holds title, and over...

November 8, 2022


Canada and Fox Lake Cree Nation mark key step toward reconciliation and renewed nation-to-nation relationship

Crown – Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada: Today, Chief Morris Beardy of Fox Lake Cree Nation and the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, announced that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance shared work at a Recognition of Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination table. This co-developed Memorandum of Understanding will help guide...

September 21, 2022


Wolastoqey chiefs accuse N.B. Power of scuttling negotiations over Mactaquac dam refurbishment

N.B. Power embarking on project to keep dam operating until 2068 CBC: Wolastoqey chiefs in New Brunswick say a land title claim they filed is being used as justification for N.B. Power providing less compensation to their communities over a massive planned upgrade to the Mactaquac dam and generating station. The narrowing of negotiating terms signals a step back...

September 12, 2022


1492 Land Back Lane dispute over proposed development near Caledonia and Six Nations returns to court

NationTalk: Newmarket Today – The legal saga around a two-year occupation of a proposed development site by a group of Indigenous people returned to an Ontario court on Monday with another attempt to remove the protesters. The company behind the planned housing development near Caledonia, Ont., and Six Nations of the Grand River is again...

August 30, 2022


Federal and Ontario governments settle decades-long flooding claim with First Nation

Globe And Mail: More than a century after a small First Nation in Northwestern Ontario was flooded by a dam on the Rainy River, the community has reached an $84-million land claim settlement with the federal and provincial governments. Chief Janice Henderson of Mitaanjigamiing First Nation said the recent settlement is life-changing for her community,...

August 3, 2022


The Government of Canada Formally Apologizes to Peepeekisis Cree Nation for File Hills Colony Scheme

Crown – Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada – The File Hills Colony Scheme, which was in place from 1898 to 1954, involved the involuntary relocation of graduates from residential schools and industrial schools in Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the Peepeekisis Cree Nation’s reserve. The federal  Agent arbitrarily allocated agricultural land on reserve without the...

May 8, 2022


Legacy of 1907 illegal land transfer leaves Peguis First Nation struggling with recurring flooding

Peguis FN was moved off of their original territory through an illegal land transfer in 1907 to their current location on Fisher River where they have been subject to continuous flooding. Toronto Star: The marshy delta of Manitoba’s Fisher River was not the original home of Peguis First Nation. But having been relocated there more...

December 1, 2021


Peace and Friendship Treaties 1725 & 1778

APTN- The chiefs of Wolastoqey Nation have added to their lawsuit against the province of New Brunswick, this time adding a number of corporations for conducting business on their territory without consent…the chiefs said that the corporations operate on “20 percent of the more than five million hectares identified in the claim as the traditional...

November 15, 2021


Grassy Narrows Land Declaration

Toronto Star – The government was knowingly using an outdated and inaccurate map (30 years old), members of First Nations charge, green-lighting drilling and excavation areas where the residents say they go for moose hunting, picking berries and camping. The First Nations says it has provided the government with an updated map of the area...

October 21, 2021


Atikamekw Council of Wemotaci and Hydro-Québec agreement

The Atikamekw Council of Wemotaci (CAW) and Hydro-Québec are proud to announce the signature of a master agreement that … marks the beginning of structured discussions that could lead to one or more agreements on matters of common interest. • economic spinoffs such as contract opportunities, but also job opportunities and training initiatives for community...

October 15, 2021


Peace and Friendship Treaties 1725 & 1778

Government of New Brunswick – GNB new policy on territorial land acknowledgment which forbids GNB staff from issuing territorial or title acknowledgments, is purported to be in partial response to the Wolastoqey title claim. We were forced to file a title claim because our rights continue to be ignored by GNB. Now, in response to...

August 10, 2021


Peepeekisis Cree Nation

Government of Canada – The Peepeekisis Cree Nation and the Government of Canada have concluded their negotiated settlement to resolve the File Hills Colony Specific Claim. The century-old claim concerned Canada’s breach of fiduciary obligations when it implemented the File Hills Farm Colony Scheme with its first transfer and settlement of industrial school graduates onto...

August 9, 2021


Stalled Modern Treaty Negotiations

Canadian Human Rights Commission – This report is the second follow up study after the original 1993 investigation and the 2002 follow-up. The authors were asked to consider the status of the implementation of the 1993 and 2002 Reports and to look at more recent developments and their implications for the human rights of the...

July 29, 2021


Saugeen First Nation Treaty 72 signed 1854

Saugeen Ojibwat Nation – Ontario Superior Court ruled on SON’s claims: an Aboriginal title claim to parts of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay and a claim that the Crown breached its promise to protect forever parts of the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula for SON. The claim to “waters” was denied based on a lack of evidence...

July 16, 2021


1492 Land Back Lane

Brantford Expositor – In late June, the developers sent letters to about 180 homebuyers saying that, having exhausted their legal options and with no prospect of the occupation ending, the company was scrapping the planned subdivision and cancelling all purchase agreements. The company has filed a $200-million class-action lawsuit against the Attorney General of Canada,...

June 9, 2021


Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area – Pleasantville

The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs – are demanding that all work by Atlantic Gold be stopped in Pleasantfield, Nova Scotia and that no further exploratory or drilling permits be approved by Nova Scotia Lands & Forestry or the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines for this area. The Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office has...

April 12, 2021


Grassy Narrows Land Declaration

Toronto Star – The Ontario government has allowed up to 4,000 mining claims in Grassy Narrow territory ignoring the “the land declaration that Grassy Narrows enacted in 2018 to ban industrial or mining activities on their territories?” Since the land declaration “the area covered by mineral claims has expanded fourfold, spreading across forest, rivers and...

March 30, 2021


Innu lawsuit against Hydro-Québec

CISION – The Penobscot Nation of Maine has joined the Innu of Labrador and 5 Québec First Nations and the Innu of Québec to call on President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau to block Hydro-Québec’s plan to build a transmission line to Massachusetts. Their letter calls for a halt to initiatives that would see the...

March 30, 2021


1492 Land Back Lane

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) spent $16.3 million in just half a year policing the 1492 Land Back Lane protests. Funds covered salaries, round-the-clock overtime, food, hotels, travel costs, supplies, equipment, building rentals and other related expenses between July 2020 and January 2021....

March 1, 2021


Yukon Regional Land Use Plans

The Narwhal – Two Yukon First Nations are renewing calls for a regional land use plan to be completed before any new development on their traditional territories is considered, including a mineral exploration project right next door to Tombstone Territorial Park. Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun recently sent...

December 3, 2020


Innu lawsuit against Hydro-Québec

WEMOTACI – Five First Nations in Québec, the Innu of Pessamit, the Atikamekw of Wemotaci, and the Anishnabeg of Pikogan, Lac Simon and Kitcisakik – have joined the Innu Nation of Labrador to oppose Hydro-Quebec’s massive new power transmission corridor to the United States. In two separate briefs addressed to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), the...

October 22, 2020


1492 Land Back Lane

Toronto Star – Ontario court issues a permanent injunction in favour of Foxgate and Haldimand County against the Haudenosaunee protesters. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council, Six Nations traditional government, does not recognize the jurisdiction or authority of the Six Nations’ Elected Council, the colonial construct of The Indian Act The Six Nations Elected Council has...

October 15, 2020


Saugeen First Nation Treaty 72 signed 1854

NationTalk – SON’s claim is that the Crown could have protected the Peninsula and misled SON in the negotiations of a surrender of the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula. SON’s claim is that this was a breach of the Crown’s fiduciary duty. What SON is seeking is a declaration the Crown breached this duty. If successful, in...

October 6, 2020


Innu lawsuit against Hydro-Québec

Canadian Press – Innu Nation of Labrador has filed a lawsuit against Hydro-Quebec seeking $4 billion in compensation for the ecological and cultural damage caused by the damming of the upper Churchill River in the early 1970s. They call the Churchill River’s large watershed Nitassinan. The river itself is called Mishtashipu. The Innu never ceded...

October 5, 2020


Peace and Friendship Treaties 1725 & 1778

NationTalk – The six Wolastoqey Communities in New Brunswick – Matawaskiye (Madawaska), Neqotkuk (Tobique), Wotstak (Woodstock), Pilick (Kingsclear), Sitansisk (St. Mary’s) and Welamukotuk (Oromocto) – announced they will be filing a lawsuit seeking the Court’s recognition of the Wolastoqey Nation’s title to lands in New Brunswick. Between 1725 and 1778, the Wolastoqey Nation negotiated and...

September 25, 2020


Saugeen First Nation Treaty 72 signed 1854

Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) and Grey County – The Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation reached an agreement settling Grey County’s involvement in SON’s long-standing legal action in relation to parts of the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula. The agreement settles a claim launched by SON approximately 25 years ago...

September 17, 2020


1492 Land Back Lane

EyeOpener – Protesters have occupied so-called Mackenzie Meadows, bordering the town of Caledonia and the Six Nations reserve, since July 19 in opposition to the housing development of the neighbourhood by Foxgate Developments Inc. The site is under the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee First Nation as one of their last unceded territories under the 200-year-old...

September 16, 2020


2010 First Nations and Métis Consultation Policy Framework

Global News – The Métis Nation – Saskatchewan (MN-S) has launched a lawsuit against the province claiming the government is not doing enough to consult with the Métis over issues like land use, and commercial activities like trapping and fishing. The statement of claim…also says the provincial policy on consultation, issued in 2010, doesn’t recognize...

September 12, 2020


1492 Land Back Lane

Toronto Star – The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) armed with a court injunction arrested 26 people including 2 journalists and an Indigenous academic researcher....

August 5, 2020


Rights to ancestral territories

NationTalk – The Innu First Nation of Pessamit and the Atikamekw First Nation of Wemotaci (Province of Quebec) are joining forces to put an end to the stranglehold of the Quebec government and Hydro-Québec on their traditional territories. They mean to obtain compensation for production facilities, reservoirs and transmission lines set up without their consent...

August 7, 2019


Saugeen First Nation Treaty 72 signed 1854

CBC – In 2014, a tentative agreement between the First Nation and the Town of South Bruce Peninsula was proposed that would have recognized Saugeen’s ownership of the strip of beach. During the municipal election that fall, former councillor Janice Jackson unseated the previous mayor, running on a platform that the town would not settle...

July 16, 2019


Budget Cuts Claims Research Units

Letter to Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada: The National Claims Research Directors – NCRD is a national body of specialized technicians who manage thirty-five Claims Research Units (CRUs) mandated to research and develop specific claims against the federal government. Collectively we have developed and advanced over 1500 claims. We repeat...

July 11, 2019


Abandoning Denesuline First Nation and Sayisi Dene First Nation Land Claim negotiation

The Denesuline First Nation and Sayisi Dene First Nation Canada were on the verge of initialing a land claim agreement. Then on June 12, 2019, without warning, the Minister put off signing and claimed more consultation was required with Indigenous peoples in NWT. At the negotiating table, Canada had previously agreed to initial the agreement...

June 5, 2017


Saugeen First Nation Treaty 72 signed 1854

Globe and Mail, Aug. 30, 2015, Updated June 5, 2017 – Resorting to the courts to resolve a long-standing land claim issue. The federal government supports the Saugeen First Nation claim which dates back to Treaty No. 72, signed in October, 1854. Surveying documents made at the time validate that the eastern boundary should have...

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