Legal action taken to uphold Robinson-Huron Treaty

Chiefs from the Robinson-Huron Treaty territory, acting on behalf of 30,000 beneficiaries of the 1850 Robinson-Huron Treaty, filed a Statement of Claim Sept. 9 naming Canada and Ontario in the longstanding failure of the Crown to raise annuities as agreed under the Treaty. “Our people have exhausted their patience waiting for the Crown to act honourably, they want their fair share and they want the Crown to honour its promises,” said spokesman Chief Dean Sayers.  He said the Robinson-Huron Treaty “anticipates and provides economic benefits for us in perpetuity. The annuity was intended to be our revenue stream, our share of the wealth generated by revenues from our territory, yet many of the beneficiaries live in poverty. This is not what our ancestors and the Crown agreed to.”