Wabauskang First Nation P.O Box 339 ~ Ear Falls, ON. ~ P0V 1T0 Telephone: (807)529-3174 FAX: (807)529-3007 Press Release Wabauskang to Challenge Ontario’s Right to Issue Mining Authorizations at Supreme Court Canada Wabauskang First Nation Treaty 3 September 26, 2013 The Supreme Court of Canada will hear Wabauskang First Nation’s appeal of the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Keewatin. Wabauskang, along with Grassy Narrows First Nation, was granted leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s Keewatin decision at the Supreme Court on September 19, 2013. The Supreme Court will now consider whether or not Ontario has the authority to make land-use decisions in Treaty 3 without Canada’s involvement. “We are very happy that the Supreme Court is going to hear our appeal,” said Wabauskang Chief Leslie Cameron. “We expect that the Supreme Court will agree with us that Ontario doesn’t have the right to issue authorizations to mining and other resource companies in our territory. Canada needs to be involved to make sure our Treaty rights are respected.” The Supreme Court’s decision in Keewatin will address the same issue that Wabauskang has raised in its lawsuit against Rubicon Minerals, filed in December 2012. The lawsuit asks the court to either suspend or cancel Ontario’s decision to approve a closure plan for Rubicon’s Phoenix Gold Project, which is the primary authorization that would let Rubicon go into production, on the basis that Ontario had no jurisdiction to approve the closure plan without Canada’s involvement. “We fully expect to be successful at the Supreme Court, and we expect that we will be successful in our lawsuit against Rubicon as well,” said Chief Cameron. “We’ve always said that Ontario had no jurisdiction to approve Rubicon’s closure plan.” The Supreme Court’s decision to hear our appeal should be a warning to Rubicon and other companies like Goldcorp and Gold Canyon that are operating in our territory that our Treaty rights need to be respected and that Ontario doesn’t have the right to issue these authorizations,” said Chief Cameron. “Despite our opposition, Ontario keeps on issuing mining permits in our territory, including a recent exploration permit to Jason Leblanc so he can tear-up our territory, including my trap line at Laird Lake. We’re not going to sit back and let companies and Ontario do this. We’re taking a stand for our Treaty rights and for our children.” The Supreme Court is expected to hear the Keewatin appeal in late 2014. A decision is not expected until 2015. For more information please contact: Chief Leslie Cameron Phone: 807-464-0987
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 21:12:14 +0000
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