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Exploring Theme: "Supreme Court"
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(Filtered by Stakeholder "Canada")
August 21, 2024
Opinion: Supreme Court gives government a spanking for failing to uphold Indigenous treaty rights
A recent court decision will fundamentally reshape Crown-First Nations relations for decades to come Ken Coates and Karen Restoule, Special to National Post NationTalk: National Post – The Supreme Court of Canada, ruling on the treaty rights case involving the Robinson-Huron and Robinson-Superior treaties, has given one of the sharpest rebukes of the Government of Canada (and, in...
July 30, 2024
Judge reserves decision on review of $510M in lawyers’ fees for Robinson Huron treaty litigation settlement
Lawyer on behalf of 2 member First Nations describes fees as ‘grossly inflated’ CBC Indigenous: A judge has reserved decision on a challenge of the fairness of the $510 million being paid to the lawyers who argued the landmark $10-billion Robinson Huron treaty annuities settlement. At the Ontario Superior Court hearing Tuesday in a packed Toronto courtroom,...
May 30, 2024
Canada’s top court dismisses federal Indian day school survivor’s appeal
Case pitted day school survivors against Ottawa, Gowling and Deloitte CBC Indigenous: The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed a request from a federal Indian day school survivor to appeal a lower court ruling related to a multi-billion dollar settlement agreement she said left survivors like her shortchanged and retraumatized. Jessie Waldron, who attended the...
April 15, 2024
Blood Tribe ‘Big Claim’ time-barred, but Supreme Court provides declaration in Crown’s ‘dishonourable’ conduct
Supreme Court of Canada Judge Michelle O’Bonsawin WindSpeaker.com: The Supreme Court of Canada has helped to restore the honour of the Crown by issuing a declaration in the Blood Tribe’s ‘Big Claim’ on April 12. The claim asserts that Canada shorted the Blood Tribe, located in southern Alberta, 162.5 square miles of reserve land promised...
April 12, 2024
Canada broke its treaty promise, but Blood Tribe is barred from suing, Supreme Court rules
High court upholds time limits on filing of treaty-based lawsuits CBC Indigenous: Canada acted dishonourably by breaking its treaty obligations to the Blood Tribe in Alberta but the band is barred from suing by the province’s statute of limitations, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled. The high court on Friday handed down a unanimous decision...
February 28, 2024
Court judgment gives Canada, Ontario 60 days to pay out $10B treaty settlement
Partial judgement ordering funds to be transferred to 21 First Nations included in 1850 Robinson Huron Treaty handed down in Ontario Superior Court this week NationTalk: SooToday.com – The $10-billion settlement awarded to Robinson Huron Treaty annuitants for past compensation is slated to be distributed to 21 First Nations included in the treaty in the...
November 29, 2023
SON asking Supreme Court to weigh in on Bruce Peninsula claim
First Peoples Law Report: The Owen Sound Sun Times – Saugeen Ojibway Nation wants the Supreme Court to consider whether the Crown owed a fiduciary duty to them and whether it was breached when the Crown didn’t stop settlers from moving into the Bruce Peninsula, which was promised to SON. It’s asking the Supreme Court...
November 9, 2023
Supreme Court of Canada hears case on broken treaty promises with up to $126-billion award on the line
The case involving First Nations in northern Ontario could redefine what Canada and Ontario owe to Anishinaabe treaty beneficiaries. Toronto Star: OTTAWA—A landmark case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada this week could leave the federal and provincial governments on the hook for a $126-billion award to First Nations in northern Ontario for failing...
October 26, 2023
Limitations Legislation and Treaty Rights at the Supreme Court: First Peoples Law Report
In the following post, my colleague Kate Gunn summarizes the points raised in our submissions at the Supreme Court last week, where we had the privilege of representing the Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta in their intervention in the Jim Shot Both Sides appeal. I hope you find it informative and helpful. You can also read it on...
October 12, 2023
Supreme Court hears arguments on time limitations to bring claims of treaty obligation breaches
“The Treaty 8 First Nations submit that the Crown’s treaty promises must always be fulfilled. And that limitations legislation should not ever be used as basis to prevent the fulfillment of those obligations.” — Kate Gunn, legal counsel for Treaty 8 First Nations in Alberta Supreme Court of Canada Justices (from left to right): Hon....
March 22, 2023
Supreme Court hears important federalism case without its only Indigenous member
The Globe and Mail: The first Indigenous judge in the Supreme Court’s 148-year history has been left off a case with important consequences for Indigenous peoples, so the court could avoid the possibility of a tie vote. With one of its nine members caught up in a disciplinary process, Chief Justice Richard Wagner chose to hear a...
March 16, 2023
In Brief: Jim Shot Both Sides, et al. v. His Majesty the King
In Brief: Jim Shot Both Sides, et al. v. His Majesty the KingBy Kate Gunn and Tyler SwanWhat it’s AboutThe Supreme Court of Canada will decide whether First Nations can be barred from bringing claims based on breaches of the Crown’s treaty obligations under provincial limitation periods. What happenedThe Blood Tribe brought an action against Canada for...
February 7, 2023
The Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal in a case involving Treaty rights and limitations law
First Peoples Law Report Summary 40153 Jim Shot Both Sides, et al. v. His Majesty the King (Federal) (Civil) (By Leave) Keywords Aboriginal law – Treaty rights, Limitation of actions – Aboriginal law — Treaty rights — Treaty 7 — Breach of treaty as cause of action — Limitation of actions — Whether limitation periods...
January 18, 2023
Canada, Ontario, and Robinson Huron Treaty Leadership Announce two-week mediation
Robinson Huron leadership assembled at a closed-door Special Chiefs Meeting in Sudbury, Ont., on Jan. 16 to confer with their legal team from Nahwegahbow Corbiere Genoodmagejig Barristers & Solicitors in preparation for the historic mediation NationTalk: ANISHINANBEKNEWS.ca: SUDBURY — Canada and Ontario were in a tight corner: staring down a dispassionate, nonpartisan court set to...
October 20, 2022
Supreme Court will not hear from St. Anne’s residential school survivors
OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday it will not to heara case of residential school survivors who have fought a years-long battle against Ottawa to release thousands of records. The group of survivors from St. Anne’s residential school in northern Ontario had looked to the country’s highest court after spending the last...
October 12, 2022
Supreme Court to hear case on whether Indigenous governments are subject to Charter scrutiny
NationTalk: The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) has been granted leave to intervene in a landmark case dealing with the scope of section 25 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and how this provision’s guarantee of rights for Indigenous people interacts with the Charter. Section 25 of the Charter provides that “[t]he guarantee in...
March 26, 2022
Is denial of conditional sentences for Indigenous people systemic racism? The Supreme Court will decide
The Toronto Star (Windspeaker.com) – The Supreme Court of Canada will be weighing the arguments it heard March 23 to determine whether the inability to make conditional sentencing available in some cases amounts to systemic racism for Indigenous offenders, infringing on their Charter rights. In 2012, the Criminal Code was amended through the Safe Streets...
October 1, 2021
Supreme Court validates Honour of the Crown
Métis Nation of Ontario, Métis Nation of Alberta – The Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in City of Toronto v Ontario (Attorney General). This case was about the fairness of a municipal election in one city, but the decision also raised the issue of how Canada’s Constitution is to be interpreted and the...
July 16, 2021
Lac Seul First Nation
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...
January 22, 2021
Beaver Lake Partial Advance Cost Award
LAC-LA BICHE, AB: Beaver Lake First Nations – The Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal the decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal overturning Beaver Lake Cree Nations’ partial advanced cost award. After ten years of litigation, including 5 years where Alberta and Canada unsuccessfully tried to strike its claim, the Beaver Lake...
October 28, 2020
Lac Seul First Nation
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) – Supreme Court of Canada grants intervener status to AMC, along with many others, in the Southwind case. Lac Seul Band launched the suit against the Federal Government for breaching their fiduciary duty when they flooded reserve land to advance a hydro-electric project. This project would see massive profits for...
September 25, 2020
Lac Seul First Nation
Dryden Now – In 1929, the Ear Falls Dam was built to supply hydroelectric power to Ontario and Manitoba, but flooded over 11,000 acres of Lac Seul First Nation’s reserve lands and burial sites that same year. Chief Derek Maud says it’s disappointing and unacceptable that Canada has not addressed the outstanding issue, and he...
September 21, 2020
First Nation constitutional orders are distinct but equal to Euro-Canadian laws
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) – will be intervening at the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in a significant and potentially transformational hearing to argue that First Nation constitutional orders are distinct but equal to Euro-Canadian laws. On the surface, the case is about the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, the federal government’s carbon tax,...
April 23, 2020
Lac Seul First Nation
First Peoples Law -The Supreme Court of Canada granted Lac Seul First Nation’s application for leave to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Southwind v. Canada. The Supreme Court is expected to clarify how equitable compensation is calculated where a First Nation’s reserve lands have been taken or damaged by the Crown in...
February 2, 2019
Delgamuukw decision and the Tsilhqot’in decision
Policy Options – Continued refusal to accept Aboriginal title as defined by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Delgamuukw decision and the Tsilhqot’in decision. The Supreme Court of Canada similarly recognizes in Delgamuukw that constitutionally protected Aboriginal title is not created by Canadian law; rather, Aboriginal title “arises from the prior occupation of Canada...