The Crown dishonourably breached the Robinson Treaties and must negotiate a settlement with First Nations within six months, the Supreme Court of Canada rules.
The two treaties, signed in 1850, ceded a large portion of Ontario’s lands to the Crown in exchange for annual payments to the Anishinaabeg of Lakes Huron and Superior.
The treaties provided that payments would increase over time, provided the Crown did not suffer a loss. However, they have been frozen at $4 per person since 1875.
In a ruling released Friday, the Supreme Court said the governments of Ontario and Canada had an obligation to increase that amount when economic circumstances justified it.
The top court said the Crown now has six months to negotiate a settlement with one of the groups, the Robinson-Superior plaintiffs. If a settlement cannot be reached, the Crown must set a compensation amount itself.
The second group, the Robinson-Huron plaintiffs, had already reached a negotiated settlement.
The Supreme Court heard the case in December. The federal and Ontario governments acknowledged that the Crown had long failed to meet its obligations to increase payments over time.
Writing for a unanimous court, Justice Mahmud Jamal said the Crown “must increase the annuity payable to the Lake Superior claimants under the Robinson Treaties to more than $4 per person, retrospectively, as it would be manifestly dishonourable not to do so.”
The first claims in this case were filed in 2001 (Lake Superior Anishinaabe) and 2014 (Lake Huron Anishinaabe). Subsequently, the Lake Huron plaintiffs 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 over past claims. They have yet to resolve the amount of future payments.
The settlement was finalized in February, with the court agreeing that Ontario and Canada should each pay $5 billion.
The Robinson-Superior group is seeking more than $126 billion in damages. The case has been heard in Ontario Superior Court, but the amount has not been finally determined.
If the two parties fail to reach an agreement and the Crown itself sets the amount of damages, the Robinson-Superieur group can still contest it in court.