A northern Saskatchewan First Nation is hoping a judge orders a second-look at its claim for potential diamond-bearing land in the Fort a la Corne forest.
The Muskoday First Nation, located near Prince Albert, has filed a lawsuit against the provincial government, claiming Saskatchewan did not act in good faith and did not use its best efforts in fulfilling Muskoday’s treaty land entitlement (TLE) settlement agreement when it denied the First Nation’s selection of several thousand acres in the forest for purchase as part of the deal, legal documents say.
The First Nation, led by Chief Austin Bear, wants a Court of Queen’s Bench judge to order the province to reconsider Muskoday’s TLE selection in the forest, an area where Saskatoon resource firm Shore Gold Inc. is looking to develop diamond resources. The land Muskoday hopes to buy is unoccupied Crown land, the documents say.
Shore Gold was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, and no allegations have been proven in court.
In its defence, the province says nothing in the settlement agreement, which was signed in 2007, can be interpreted as requiring Saskatchewan to sell any specific Crown land or minerals to the First Nation.
The province’s reason for rejecting Muskoday’s selection — saying it wants to continue to own and manage the land on behalf of and for the benefit to all the residents of Saskatchewan — are reasonable and do not involve any improper motives, the province says.
Saskatchewan also denies it failed to act in good faith or employ its best efforts regarding the settlement agreement.
But for the First Nation, said lawyer Ron Cherkewich, who is representing Muskoday in the case, the province’s reasons for rejecting the selection of land in the forest aren’t good enough.
"When we got the rejection letter everyone, all First Nations, were just absolutely floored because the reasons for the rejection were . . . almost to the point of insulting," Cherkewich said in an interview from his Prince Albert office.
The lawyer said several other Saskatchewan First Nations are supportive of Muskoday’s case.
"At the end of the day, all we’re asking the court to do is send this back to Saskatchewan for reconsideration," he said.
The case may go to trial in early 2011, Cherkewich said.
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