Getting a Scolding

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Canada’s supreme court ruled this week that treaties signed more than 170 years ago between British colonial settlers and Indigenous groups have not been honored by successive Canadian governments, depriving First Nations of fair compensation for resource revenue, the Washington Post reported.

The case centers on the Robinson Treaties signed in 1850 between the Crown and the Anishinaabe people of Lake Huron and Lake Superior – more than a decade before Canada confederated.

The agreements included an annual payment with a clause for potential increases if land resources produced sufficient revenue. During the proceedings, the Canadian government said that it owed the Indigenous groups $1.3 billion, but economist Joseph Stiglitz – who was called to testify – estimated the figure to be around $90 billion.

In its Friday ruling, the court chided Canada’s “longstanding and egregious” breach of the treaties, highlighting the Crown’s unreliability and lack of trustworthiness as a treaty partner.

The top court found that the treaty’s beneficiaries have continued to receive an annual payment of less than $3 per person since 1875, an amount deemed “shocking” and a “mockery” of the treaty’s intended promise.

It ordered the Canadian government to negotiate compensation owed to the Anishinaabe people, who, it said, have been left in poverty because of broken pledges.

The court emphasized that historical treaties must be interpreted considering both their wording and the historical and cultural context, reflecting how each party would have understood the agreements at the time.

Observers explained that the verdict could significantly impact how resource revenues, such as from mining and forestry, are shared with Indigenous communities and influence the role of courts in reconciliation efforts between First Nations and the Canadian government.

Indigenous groups welcomed the decision with representatives hoping for future community benefits.

The ruling does not award an immediate settlement but mandates a six-month period for Ontario to propose a new settlement. The court warned it would intervene if a fair compensation agreement is not reached, according to the Guardian.