Supreme Court of Canada to issue decision in Robinson Treaties case

Canada’s top court is set to issue a decision this morning in a case about Crown payments under the Robinson Huron Treaties that have been frozen for almost 150 years.

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

The treaties included a clause that states 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.

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An Ontario Superior Court judge ruled the Crown violated the treaties and that it had a mandatory and reviewable obligation to raise the payments as the land was developed.

The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld most of the trial judge’s findings, ruling that the Crown violated its promise to share resource revenues.

The Crown appealed and the case was heard in the Supreme Court of Canada in December.

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

Both governments have conceded they are in longstanding breach of their obligations to increase the payments over time.

In June 2023, the Robinson Huron litigation group reached a $10-billion settlement with the Ontario and Canadian governments for past claims. It has 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 federal government has set aside funding and the deal will take effect regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision in this case.

The Robinson Superior group has asked for more than $126 billion in damages.