Wabauskang asks Court of Appeal to clarify lower court decision

Wabauskang First Nation has asked the Ontario Court of Appeal to hear its challenge of the recent decision dismissing Wabauskang’s lawsuit against the Ontario government over its approval of Rubicon Minerals’ proposed Phoenix Gold Mine near Red Lake. “Our Treaty rights and our relationship and responsibilities with our lands and territory must be respected,” said Wabauskang Chief Martine Petiquan. “The lower court’s decision ignores fundamental aspects of our Treaty relationship and Ontario’s constitutional obligations to our First Nation. We’re ready to take this fight to the Court of Appeal to make sure that Ontario honours our Treaty the way it is supposed to.” Wabauskang filed the lawsuit in 2012 opposing Rubicon’s proposed Phoenix Gold Mine in Treaty 3 territory. Wabauskang asked the Court to cancel Ontario’s approval of a closure plan, which allows the mine to go into production, because Ontario delegated consultation to Rubicon. In a decision released on Aug. 28, the Court sided with Rubicon and Ontario and upheld the closure plan.