SON & Saugeen Shores Finalizing Land Claim Agreement

Saugeen Shores and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) are working together to finalize an agreement settling Saugeen Shore’s involvement in SON’s long-standing legal action in relation to parts of the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula.

Once final, the agreement will settle a claim launched by SON approximately 25 years ago. The claim went to trial in 2019, and closing arguments were heard in October 2020. To date, no decision has been released.

Saugeen Shores and SON continue to work through the details of the settlement agreement, and view this as a positive step towards fostering further cooperation and reconciliation between Saugeen Shores and SON.

“We look forward to continuing to moving forward with our neighbours in the spirit of cooperation,” said Chief Lester Anoquot (Saugeen First Nation) about discussions regarding an out of court resolution with Saugeen Shores.

Head Councillor Anthony Chegahno (Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation) echoed that: “These talks are a positive step towards reconciliation and part of building strong relationships with local governments in our traditional territory.”

The Mayor of the Town of Saugeen Shores, Luke Charbonneau commented “The Town is very pleased with the positive progress towards settling this long standing land claim.  We look forward to our continued work with our friends and neighbours at SON on this settlement.  I hope this is the beginning of a path forward for our communities to build a stronger shared future.”

More details respecting the settlement will become available once it has been finalized.

For media inquiries contact:

Saugeen Ojibway Nation Environment Office
Kurt Kivell, Communications Manager
Kurt.kivell@saugeenojibwaynation.ca
(519) 270-3447

Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP (legal counsel to Saugeen Ojibway Nation)
Cathy Guirguis, Partner
cguirguis@oktlaw.com
416-981-9347

Town of Saugeen Shores
Kara Van Myall, Chief Administrative Officer
Kara.vanmyall@saugeenshores.ca
519-832-2008 x103

Donnelly Murphy Lawyers PC (legal counsel to the Town of Saugeen Shores)
Gregory Stewart, Partner
gstewart@dmlaw.ca
519-524-2154 x0

Backgrounder

SON is made up of two First Nations – the Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation – with a shared history and ancestry. SON’s traditional homelands – or its territory (see attached map) – includes the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula and about 1 ½ million acres of land to the south of it, stretching from Goderich to Collingwood.

SON launched a claim related to some of the lands on the Peninsula 25 years ago against Canada and Ontario. The case is about the actions of the British Crown who, in 1836, pressed SON to surrender 1.5 million acres of its lands south of Owen Sound. In exchange, SON says that the Crown made an important promise: to protect the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula for SON, forever. But, 18 years later the Crown came back for a surrender of the Peninsula.

SON’s legal action says that this was a breach of the duty the Crown owed to SON, and that the Crown misled SON in the negotiations leading up to the surrender. It seeks the return of lands on the Peninsula that are still owned by Ontario or Canada or have not been bought and paid for by third parties.  As such, SON’s claim also includes some municipal road allowances and shore road allowances. That includes roads owned by Saugeen Shores.

An agreement between Saugeen Shores and SON would settle the portion of the claim against Saugeen Shores, but the claim will continue against Canada, Ontario and other municipalities.

The trial began in April 2019, and closing arguments were heard in October 2020. To date, no decision has been released.

SON Land Claim Case Update

In October 2020, the trial of two longstanding Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) claims was concluded. The trial considered a claim about SON’s ownership of lands under water, and a claim seeking redress from Canada and Ontario for a broken promise to protect some of SON’s lands.

The trial of both claims began on April 23, 2019, and is being presided over by Justice Wendy Matheson of the Ontario Superior Court.

Closing arguments began on October 19, 2020, and were completed on October 23, 2020. Closings arguments were heard by the Ontario court virtually, due to pandemic restrictions in place restricting attendance numbers inside a courtroom.

SON expects to receive the decision of the court by the end of July 2021. Once that happens, SON will release a summary of the decision with a statement to SON community members, and hold a celebration to mark this historical event (details to be announced).

A Refresher on the Claims

Background

SON is made up of two distinct First Nations – the Saugeen First Nation and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. The two First Nations launched their claims jointly approximately 20 years ago.

ABORIGINAL TITLE CLAIM

SON’s claim about ownership of lands under water asserts SON’s title to their traditional homelands that were not surrendered by treaty.  SON’s traditional homelands includes the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula and about 1.5 million acres of land to the south of it, stretching from Goderich to Collingwood. It also includes the waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron surrounding those lands. SON is asking the court to recognize SON’s ‘Aboriginal title’ to those waters.

Aboriginal title, in Canadian law, is an Indigenous land right that is recognized and protected by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. While First Nations in Canada have successfully brought court claims about Aboriginal title to lands, this is the first time that the issue of Aboriginal title to waters will be decided by a court.

TREATY CLAIM

SON’s second claim is about Treaty 72. In 1836, the British Crown pressed SON to surrender 1.5 million acres of its lands south of Owen Sound. In exchange for those rich farming lands, the Crown made SON an important promise: to protect the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula for SON, forever. 18 years later however, the Crown came back for a surrender of the Peninsula. The Crown said that they could no longer protect SON’s remaining lands from settlers, and pressured the First Nations into signing Treaty 72 in 1854.

SON’s claim is that the Crown could have protected the Peninsula, but instead 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 that the Crown breached this duty. That is the only question that will be answered by the decision.  If successful, in a later phase of this claim, SON will be looking for recognition of its ownership interests in  lands on the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula that are still owned by Ontario or Canada or have not been bought and paid for by third parties (municipal roads, for example), as well as compensation.

For inquiries, please contact:

Cathy Guirguis, OKT LLP (SON Legal Counsel), cguirguis@oktlaw.com, 416.629.4545

Councilor Anthony Chegahno, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, councilor.anthony@nawash.ca

Chief Lester Anoquot, Saugeen First Nation, Lester.Anoquot@saugeen.org

Kurt Kivell, SON Environment Office Communications Manager, kurt.kivell@saugeenojibwaynation.ca

Robert Rice, Saugeen Communications Manager, robert.rice@saugeen.org

 

 

 

Livestream Scheduled for SON Land Claim Closing Submissions

Opening arguments in the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) Land Claim were heard almost 18 months ago, in a simpler time. This year the COVID-19 pandemic caused the postponement of all in-person hearing dates until courts adopted virtual methods for holding Trials. The delays caused by the pandemic slowed the pace of the trial, but lawyers are now making submissions again, online. Closing submissions (arguments) in our landmark case will begin on Monday. October 19, 2020.

The closing submissions will be livestreamed on YouTube in response to a special request from our legal team to the Court to allow the proceedings to be streamed so that SON members could observe.  A link to the livestream will be posted daily on the website of Olthius, Kleer, Townshend, at https://www.oktlaw.com/services/cases/son_titleclaim/.

Members are invited and encouraged to tune in to this historic event.

Grey County Reaches Settlement Agreement with Saugeen Ojibway Nation

The Chief and Council are excited to announce that an agreement has been reached with Grey County, in settlement of their portion of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation’s ongoing land claim. Part of the settlement agreement will see the transfer of approximately 275 acres of forest in Georgian Bluffs, abutting Mountain Lake, from the County to the SON.

Grey County is only one of six municipalities named in our claim. If our claim is successful, the municipalities could be subject to an expensive court-ordered settlement, on top of legal costs. With this negotiated settlement, Grey County has settled their portion of our land claim. The settlement is only with Grey County. The Saugeen Ojibway Nation land claim will continue against the remaining parties.

Our land claim has only asked for the return of Crown lands not taken up by third parties, including unsold municipal lands like road allowances and shoreline allowances. We are not asking for land that is occupied, or has been sold to a third-party. It is incorrect to compare the size of the settlement to the total size of Grey County, as the vast majority of land in Grey County is already privately owned and not subject to our claim.

In fact, the settlement will transfer more than twice the amount of land that is actually being claimed by SON from Grey County.

The terms of the settlement agreement required confidentiality about the discussions and the settlement until Grey County and SON released a joint statement, as Grey County was concerned that any pre-release of information would impact negotiations and delay or derail the conclusion of this settlement.

The negotiations that led to this historic settlement were lengthy and detailed. The SON Joint Council was well advised by both legal and financial counsel, and is very pleased with the result. This settlement supports the strength of our ongoing land claim and is an important part of the movement by the Crown and its agents towards reconciliation with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation.

You can read the full press release here.