Crown must settle with First Nations for breaching Robinson treaties: Supreme Court

The Crown dishonourably breached the Robinson Treaties and must negotiate a settlement with First Nations within six months, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled.

The Robinson-Superior and Robinson-Huron treaties were negotiated between the First Nations people living around Lake Superior and Lake Huron and the Crown in 1850. (File photo/Supplied/Archives Canada)

The two treaties were signed in 1850, ceding a large swath of land in Ontario to the Crown in return for annual payments to the Anishinaabe of lakes Huron and Superior.

The treaties said the payments should increase over time, so long as the Crown did not incur a loss, but they have been frozen at $4 per person since 1875.

In a ruling Friday, the Supreme Court said the Ontario and Canadian governments had a mandatory obligation to raise that amount when economic circumstances warranted.

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The top court ruled the Crown now has six months to negotiate a settlement with one of the groups, the Robinson Superior plaintiffs, and if a deal cannot be reached the Crown must set a remedy on its own.

The second group, the Robinson Huron plaintiffs, had already reached a negotiated settlement.

• READ MORE: Canada and Ontario Governments reach $10-billion settlement with Robinson Huron First Nations

The governments of Canada and Ontario have reached a proposed $10 billion settlement with the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund, representing the 21 Robinson Huron First Nations. (Eric Taschner/CTV News Northern Ontario)

The Supreme Court heard the matter in December. The federal and Ontario governments conceded the Crown was in long-standing breach of their obligations to increase the payments over time.

Writing for a unanimous court, Justice Mahmud Jamal said the Crown “must increase the annuity under the Robinson Treaties beyond $4 per person retrospectively, from 1975 to the present. It would be patently dishonourable not to do so.”

The initial claims in the case were filed in 2001 and 2014. Subsequently, the Lake Huron group entered into negotiations with the federal and Ontario governments.

In June of last year, the Robinson Huron group reached a $10-billion settlement with the two governments for past claims. They have not yet dealt with the issue of how much the payments should be going forward.

That settlement was finalized in February, with the court agreeing that Ontario and Canada should each pay $5 billion.

The Robinson Superior group has asked for more than $126 billion in damages. The case went to trial in the Ontario Superior Court but there has been no final word on the amount.

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If the two parties cannot come to an agreement, and the Crown sets out an award for damages on its own, the Robinson Superior group can challenge the amount in court if it chooses.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2024.