Grassy Narrows files Supreme Court appeal over logging rights
(QMI Agency file photo)
By Alan S. Hale, Kenora Daily MIner and News
Lawyers for the Grassy Narrows First Nation have filed their appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada.
The aboriginal community is hoping Canada’s highest court will overturn an Ontario Court decision which struck down logging restrictions inside the First Nation’s traditional territory put in place by a lower court decision.
“Grassy Narrows is determined to protect its treaty rights and to protect the integrity of our lands. (The lower court judge) made the right decision when she held the governments to the agreement they made with our people in 1873. We were gravely disappointed when the Court of Appeal disagreed. We hope that the Supreme Court of Canada will agree to hear our appeal and restore the trial judgment,” said Simon Fobister, the chief of Grassy Narrows.
The ruling being appealed was made by the Ontario Court of Appeal in March, where the judge found the wording of Treaty 3 does not prevent the provincial government from issuing logging for areas such as the Whiskey Jack Forest which is inside Grassy Narrows’ territory.
Treaty 3 explicitly protects the First Nations’ right to hunt and fish inside the treaty area except for areas the Crown sets aside for “settlement, mining, lumbering or other purposes by Her said Government of the Dominion of Canada, or by any of the subjects thereof duly authorized therefor by the said Government.”
The lower court decision ruled the provincial government must get authorization from the federal government before being able to set aside land for development because doing so impinges on the treaty-protected right to hunt and fish.
The Ontario Court of Appeal rejected that reasoning, saying provinces have sole constitutional jurisdiction over resource development and do not need the permission from another level of government.
Which interpretation is correct will be decided by the justices of the Supreme Court, if it decides to hear the case. If it does not, the Ontatrio Court of Appeal ruling will stand. It could be four to eight months before a decision is made.
“We are committed to fighting ecologically and culturally unsustainable forestry practices. We have seen our lands and treaty rights eroded over the years and believe that the courts should step in to set things right,” said Joe Fobister, one of the trappers who brought the original lawsuit on the issue years ago.
Grassy Narrows has maintained a logging blockade inside their territory for more than a decade, but says it is open to talks with the Ontario government about the future of logging in the Whiskey Jack Forest.