Land claim moves into 'meaningful remedies' phase following supreme court decision

Saugeen First Nation. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

Officials with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation are disappointed in the latest decision by the Supreme Court of Canada considering their 1854 treaty claim.

“It’s disappointing that the Crown isn’t going to hear from us about the importance of the Crown keeping its treaty promises, about why it is a relationship that should be held to the high standard of a fiduciary obligation, but we will push forward to hold the Crown accountable for their wrongs,” said Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation Chief Greg Nadjiwon.

The Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) launched a court claim in 1994, seeking $90 billion in compensation and punitive damages as well as the return of numerous Crown lands for a broken treaty promise made in 1854.

SON says that the Crown broke treaty promises to protect the Bruce Peninsula from settlement and save the land for them in 1836 and again in 1854.

In 2019 and 2021, Ontario’s Superior Court agreed, saying the Crown did break its promise to protect the land and that a Crown agent breached the Crown’s honour when he told SON the Crown would take the land without SON’s consent, unless they signed the 1854 treaty.

The Court did not, however, find that the Crown broke its “fiduciary duty” to keep its promise.

Map of Saugeen Ojibway Nation Treaty 72 land claim. (Source: Saugeen Ojibway Nation)

SON says a “fiduciary duty” is a special obligation in relationships where one party relies on the other to act in their best interests. An appeal of the “fiduciary duty” decision was upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal, and most recently, the Supreme Court of Canada.

While disappointed in the decision, officials with SON are now seeking “meaningful remedies for the Crown’s broken promises.”

“We’re hopeful from other recent developments in the law that there must be real efforts and action to make things right when the Crown has breached its honour. We hope that Canada and Ontario will work with us to come to a fair and just resolution,” said Saugeen First Nation Chief Conrad Ritchie.

“We remain committed to seeking a remedy that reflects our longstanding relationship to our lands and is about making right what we lost,” he continued.

While financial compensation was not mentioned as a “remedy,” SON has dropped their demands for the return of numerous Crown lands, including the Bruce Peninsula National Park, as part of their claim.

In a separate decision, the Saugeen First Nation was recently granted title and ownership over a large swatch of Sauble Beach’s valuable shoreline. They have been managing most of Sauble Beach’s shoreline for the past two summers.

SON is also deciding when their community will vote on plans to bury Canada’s used nuclear fuel within their territory, near Teeswater in Bruce County.