Eight Mi’gmaq communities in New Brunswick are taking the province to court over title assertion.
The eight communities are being represented by non-profit organization Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqn Inc. (MTI).
MTI is seeking compensation from the province over lands taken from the communities development without their consent.
In addition, the communities want to share in the decision-making process around development on Crown land.
“The provincial government doesn’t want to sit down and discuss our title to our lands and waters, and what our ancestors and those representing the Crown signed and promised each other,” Chief Rebecca Knockwood of Amlamgog (Fort Folly) First Nation said in a news release.
“This cannot continue. If the court system is the only avenue currently open to us to provide certainty around our title, then that is [the] route we are forced to take.”
MTI said it presented the government with maps and documentation in February 2023 showing its unceded and ancestral lands and waters.
While Ottawa has indicated its willingness to enter into discussions, the organization said the province has shown no interest.
MTI chiefs said they have no interest in taking title to any private property as a result of the title claim.
“The Mi’gmaq have no intention and do not want to take any person’s home, cottage, or property,” said Chief Bill Ward of Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation.
New Brunswick’s Wolastoqey chiefs launched their own Indigenous title claim against the province in 2021. That case is still making its way through the courts.
