iPolitics –The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 8-1 that a $30-million award to the Lac Seul First Nation, located in northwestern Ontario, to cover the federal government’s intentional flooding of its reserve land in 1929 was insufficient, and has sent the case back to trial to be re-evaluated. In doing so, the top court has also established a framework for how to compensate Indigenous groups for historic injustices suffered decades ago, or, in this case, almost a century ago. The Lac Seul band, which at the time represented about 700 Annishinaabe people, was not consulted, compensated, or even informed about the destruction of its timberland, hay fields, wild rice crops, houses, and gardens. More than 50 grave sites were washed away, as well.
Supreme Court Justice Andromache Karakatsanis, writing for the majority, overturned the conclusions of the lower federal courts. But Karakatsanis said that “Indigenous interests in land … are at the heart of the Crown-Indigenous relationship, and are central to Indigenous identity and culture.” They are different, in kind, than private breaches of contract, she added.
Canada’s fiduciary duty required it to capture the full potential value of the land for the Lac Seul band, she continued. “To that end, the highest and best use at the time of the government’s breach was the land’s intended use as water storage for hydroelectricity generation.”