Gull Bay First Nation is seeking $150 million in damages from the provincial and federal governments and an expanded reserve for what it claims is a 165-year-old land surveying error.
Gull Bay filed a statement of claim last week in Ontario Superior Court alleging the governments of Canada and Ontario have breached the 1850 Robinson-Superior Treaty by not granting the community the full reserve land that was promised.
The statement of claim alleges the treaty ordered the establishment of a reserve of 16 square leagues, using a French fur trade unit of measurement where one league is equal to slightly less than five kilometres.
Despite an obligation from the Crown to survey all reserve lands, the statement of claim argues the Gull Bay area was not initially surveyed following the negotiation of the treaty, with it being deemed too remote to be necessary.
It was not until 1886 and a petition from indigenous people at Gull River that a survey was conducted. The survey determined the allotted reserve was only about eight square miles and not the 16 square leagues promised under the treaty.
By this point the area representatives who attended the 1850 negotiations had all died and the leadership of the time was not familiar with the negotiations and “could not have known of the systemic undervaluation of the reserves.”
In 1887 the Department of Indian Affairs ordered the reserve to be reconfigured. The reserve, now formally known as Gull Bay 55, is surveyed at being slightly less than 16 square miles.
“The Reserve does not currently total four miles square (or 16 square miles) in size,” the statement of claim reads. “It is apparent on that basis alone that the Crown has not satisfied its bare obligation based on the Treaty text to provide a reserve of four miles square.”
The claim adds the Crown failed its treaty obligation, given the understanding of the signatories, to create the reserve of 16 square leagues.
It is asking negotiations to begin for Gull Bay to receive a reserve totaling 16 square leagues, or about 48 square miles.
The lawsuit also seeks damages for mineral extraction, forestry and roads and infrastructure projects which were conducted on land over the past 165 years that should have been considered reserve land.
“In particular, the Crown has licensed lands that should be part of the Reserve for timber harvesting and other resource extraction projects, and in doing so has collected fees and charges and benefitted economically,” the claim argues.
In a statement released to media, Gull Bay Chief Wilfred King said the community hopes to settle the matter out of court.
"Our nation wants a fair and just resolution of this longstanding issue. It has always been our preference to work together to address the errors of the past. We have filed our lawsuit to ensure our rights are protected under the treaty and we hope that the governments will move quickly to negotiate this dispute rather than force it to proceed through litigation," he said in a statement.
