Some of the largest industrial corporations in New Brunswick are named in a new title claim by the province’s Wolastoqey communities.
The new claim, filed in the Court of Queen’s Bench on Tuesday, names J.D. Irving, Ltd. and its subsidiaries as one of the defendants.
Also included as defendants in the new claim are NB Power, Acadian Timber, Twin Rivers Paper, HJ Crabbe & Sons, and A.V. Group.
The corporations operate on about 20 per cent of the more than five-million hectares identified in the claim as traditional Wolastoqey lands, according to a news release from the Wolastoqey Nation.
The Wolastoqey chiefs are seeking a declaration of Aboriginal title to their traditional lands, along with compensation from the Crown for allowing commercial operations on the land.
“Today is about addressing 200 years of land and resource theft authorized and overseen by the New Brunswick Government,” Matawaskiye (Madawaska Maliseet) Chief Patricia Bernard said in the release.
“Instead of protecting the rightful holders of the land, the provincial government lets corporations run amuck on it.”
The chiefs said a ruling in their favour would allow forestry to continue, “as long as corporations had an agreement with the Nation over activities on their land.”
Pilick (Kingsclear) Chief Gabriel Atwin said they are not interested in displacing New Brunswickers from their homes and farms.
“We know that you and your forebears paid value for your land,” Atwin said in a news release.
The companies named in the new title claim are in addition to the governments of New Brunswick and Canada, which hold 41 per cent of the land in the claim.
Marc Belliveau, a spokesperson for NB Power, said the utility is not in a position to comment as the matter is before the courts.
Anne McInerney, vice-president communications for J.D. Irving, Ltd., also declined to comment due to the pending court case.
