Pasqua First Nation wins right to take feds, province to court over TLE
- EFN Staff | January 10, 2015
Pasqua First Nation has successfully defended its right to bring an action before the Federal Court of Canada against both Saskatchewan and Canada for failure to implement their Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) obligations, says the First Nation in a release.
In June of 2014, the First Nation filed a Statement of Claim before the Federal Court alleging that Canada and Saskatchewan have failed to properly implement their TLE Settlement promises and to make any Crown lands or minerals available for purchase by Pasqua. In particular, it says Saskatchewan has permitted new third party interests and has taken up land for lease and/or sale without consultation to Pasqua and contrary to their obligation to provide lands in priority to fulfill longstanding Treaty 4 obligations.
Despite agreeing to language in the Settlement Agreement that all disputes would be heard at the Federal Court, the Province brought a motion to strike the claim and that the Federal Court does not have jurisdiction as against Saskatchewan.
Earlier this week, the Honourable Mr. Justice Boswell dismissed the motion and ordered costs against Saskatchewan, according to the release.
In his reasons, the Judge cited the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in Grassy Narrows First Nation v. Ontario when he stated "treaty obligations to aboriginal peoples are duties that bind the Crown. Insofar as both levels of government are responsible for fulfilling the Crown's promises made in Treaty 4, it is important in the present case that...the Defendant Saskatchewan and the Defendant Canada, both be parties in this proceeding."
The Pasqua First Nation Chief and Council could not be more pleased to see the courts provide clarity on this issue.
Chief M. Todd Peigan stated, "The Saskatchewan Treaty Entitlement Act and the Settlement Agreement clearly provide for Federal Court Jurisdiction. We are thrilled that we can hold both Saskatchewan and Canada to the promises that we all agreed to in the Settlement Agreement. We look forward to moving forward as soon as possible to resolve the substance of our dispute."
Cynthia Westaway and Charles Vincent of the newly amalgamated national Aboriginal law firm Devlin Gailus Westaway (DGW) argued the Motion on behalf of Pasqua.
Westaway commented, "This is an important win for all those with outstanding Treaty Land Entitlement. Both Crowns have a responsibility to fulfill Treaty and to implement the Settlement Agreement in a way that upholds the Honour of the Crown. This starts by honouring the language in the Settlement Agreement that provides for Federal Court jurisdiction over the three signatory parties to the tri-partite TLE Agreement."
Canada took no position on the issue and its remains to be seen if Saskatchewan will move forward to the substance of the matter or appeal the jurisdictional decision.
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