Grassy Narrows First Nation v. Ontario (Natural Resources) | |
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Hearing: 2014 Judgment: July 11, 2014 | |
Full case name | Full-case name [Notes 1] |
Citations | [2014] SCR 48 |
Prior history | Judgment for the Grassy Narrows First Nation. |
Ruling | Appeal by Ontario was denied |
Holding | |
Based on article 1 of an 1891 agreement, the SCC found that the "disputed territory belonged to Ontario". [1] | |
Court membership | |
Reasons given | |
Unanimous reasons by | yes |
Indigenous peoples in Canada |
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Indigenous North Americas Canadaportal |
Grassy Narrows First Nation v. Ontario (Natural Resources) [2014] SCR 48, [2014] 2 S.C.R. 447 was a July 11, 2014 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in case number 35379 in which an appeal made by the Government of Ontario was allowed. The result of Grassy Narrows v. Ontario, while legal, was deemed unfair by some to Grassy Narrows First Nation, as "it has put them in a situation of having negotiated with a party who then ceased to be a party when it came to honouring the agreement." [1]
The Supreme Court justices Beverley McLachlin, Louis LeBel, Rosalie Silberman Abella, Marshall Rothstein, Thomas Albert Cromwell, Michael J. Moldaver, and Richard Wagner "unanimously determined that Ontario has jurisdiction to take up land covered by the Ontario Boundaries Extension Act—land also covered under the 1873 Treaty 3—thus "limiting First Nation harvesting rights." [1]
In Grassy Narrows v Ontario the SCC "unanimously determined that Ontario has the jurisdiction under the Crown to take up Treaty No. 3 (1873) (“Treaty 3”), thus limiting First Nation harvesting rights." [1]
The Ojibway had yielded ownership of their territory to Canada, through the signing in 1873 of Treaty 3. [1] Treaty 3 gave the Ojibway the "right to harvest the non-reserve lands that they had yielded in exchange until such lands were "taken up" for settlement, industry, or other government purposes." [1]
In 1912, the land, which is now known as the Keewatin, was annexed to the province of Ontario. [1]
In 1997, the Government of Ontario issued a forestry licence for clear-cutting to Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. In 2007, Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. merged with Bowater and became the third largest pulp and paper company in North America, and the eighth largest in the world. On July 1, 2012 the company, headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, changed its name to Resolute Forest Products, with its French name Produits forestiers Résolu. [2] [3] [4]
In 2005, Grassy Narrows filed a legal challenge to the Ontario license granted to Abitibi-Consolidated in an "effort to stop the logging", which initially succeeded. [1] The Ontario Court of Appeal overturned this ruling saying that "s. 109 of the Constitution Act, 1867 provides Ontario with ownership of crown lands in Ontario." The court found that Ontario also has provincial jurisdiction in natural resources and was therefore "entitled to sell the land". [1] The SCC upheld this ruling. [1]
The SCC reasoned in their July 11, 2014 decision on Grassy Narrows v. Ontario, that Treaty 3 represented a "historical border dispute between Canada and Ontario over Ontario's northern and western boundaries". Based on article 1 of an 1891 agreement, the SCC found that the "disputed territory belonged to Ontario". [1]
"the rights of hunting and fishing by the Indians throughout the tract surrendered, not including the reserves to be made thereunder, do not continue with reference to any tracts which have been, or from time to time may be, required or taken up for settlement, mining, lumbering or other purposes by the Government of Ontario" Schedule to 1891 Legislation (U.K.)
The result of Grassy Narrows v. Ontario, was deemed unfair to Grassy Narrows by some, as "it has put them in a situation of having negotiated with a party who then ceased to be a party when it came to honouring the agreement." [1] John Wilson said in is comments on the June 26, 2014 SCC decision in Tsilhqot'in Nation v British Columbia that "rights can be justifiably limited only if they would serve purposes of reconciliation." [1] which was not the case in the Grassy Narrows decision. In spite of SCC decision, the Grassy Narrows First Nation continue to be "determined to protect the land from development". By 2015, they reaffirmed their "determination to continue blockades" and their "political fight". [1]
Abitibi may refer to:
The Saulteaux, otherwise known as the Plains Ojibwe, are a First Nations band government in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. They are a branch of the Ojibwe who pushed west. They formed a mixed culture of woodlands and plains Indigenous customs and traditions.
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R v Sparrow, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 1075 was an important decision of the Supreme Court of Canada concerning the application of Aboriginal rights under section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Court held that Aboriginal rights, such as fishing, in existence in 1982 are protected under the Constitution of Canada and so they cannot be infringed without justification on account of the government's fiduciary duty to the Aboriginal peoples of Canada.
Delgamuukw v British Columbia, [1997] 3 SCR 1010, also known as Delgamuukw v The Queen, Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa, or simply Delgamuukw, is a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada that contains its first comprehensive account of Aboriginal title in Canada. The Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en peoples claimed Aboriginal title and jurisdiction over 58,000 square kilometers in northwest British Columbia. The plaintiffs lost the case at trial, but the Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal in part and ordered a new trial because of deficiencies relating to the pleadings and treatment of evidence. In this decision, the Court went on to describe the "nature and scope" of the protection given to Aboriginal title under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, defined how a claimant can prove Aboriginal title, and clarified how the justification test from R v Sparrow applies when Aboriginal title is infringed. The decision is also important for its treatment of oral testimony as evidence of historic occupation.
Treaty 3 was an agreement entered into on October 3, 1873, by Chief Mikiseesis on behalf of the Ojibwe First Nations and Queen Victoria. The treaty involved a vast tract of Ojibwe territory, including large parts of what is now northwestern Ontario and a small part of eastern Manitoba, to the Government of Canada. Treaty 3 also provided for rights for the Waasaakode Anishinaabe and other Ojibwe, through a series of agreements signed over the next year. The treaty was modified in 1875 when Nicolas Chatelain negotiated an adhesion that created a reserve, surveyed as reserve 16A, for Metis families connected to Mikiseesis' Rainy Lake Band. Reserve 16A and the Rainy Lake Band reserve were unified in 1967.
Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation is an Ojibwe First Nations band government who inhabit northern Kenora in Ontario, Canada. Their landbase is the 4,145 ha English River 21 Indian Reserve. It has a registered population of 1,595 as of October 2019, of which the on-reserve population was 971. As of October 2023, the community had a registered population of 1,608. They are a signatory to Treaty 3.
Guerin v The Queen [1984] 2 S.C.R. 335 was a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision on Aboriginal rights where the Court first stated that the government has a fiduciary duty towards the First Nations of Canada and established Aboriginal title to be a sui generis right.
Resolute Forest Products, formerly known as AbitibiBowater Inc., is a Canada-based pulp and paper company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company was formed in 2007 by the merger of Bowater and Abitibi-Consolidated. At that time, the merged company was the third largest pulp and paper company in North America, and the eighth largest in the world.
The Nisga'a Final Agreement, also known as the Nisga'a Treaty, is a treaty that was settled between the Nisg̱a'a, the government of British Columbia, and the Government of Canada that was signed on 27 May 1998 and came into effect on May 11, 2000. As part of the settlement in the Nass River valley nearly 2,000 km2 (800 sq mi) of land was officially recognized as Nisg̱a'a, and a 300,000 cubic decametres (1.1×1010 cu ft) (approx. 240,000 acre-feet) water reservation was also created. Bear Glacier Provincial Park was also created as a result of this agreement. Thirty-one Nisga'a placenames in the territory became official names. The land-claim settlement was the first formal modern day comprehensive treaty in the province— the first signed by a First Nation in British Columbia since the Douglas Treaties in 1854 (pertaining to areas on Vancouver Island) and Treaty 8 in 1899 (pertaining to northeastern British Columbia). The agreement gives the Nisga'a control over their land, including the forestry and fishing resources contained in it.
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Tsilhqotʼin Nation v British Columbia is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that established Aboriginal land title for the Tsilhqotʼin First Nation, with larger effects. As a result of the landmark decision, provinces cannot unilaterally claim a right to engage in clearcut logging on lands protected by Aboriginal title; they must engage in meaningful consultation with the title holder before they proceed. Although the Aboriginal title holder does not have to consent to the activity, meaningful consultation is required before infringement of the right can take place.
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Mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows was an uncontrolled discharge of between 9,000 kilograms (20,000 lb) and 11,000 kilograms (24,000 lb) of mercury from the Dryden Mill's chloralkali plant in Dryden into the headwaters of the Wabigoon River in the Kenora District of Northwestern Ontario from 1962 until 1970. It was described as "one of the worst cases of environmental poisoning in Canadian history." The contamination poisoned many people in the Grassy Narrows First Nation and Whitedog First Nation communities