The plaintiff First Nations sought a declaration that a two-chain strip of land along the shores of Rainy Lake and Rainy River formed part of the Agency One Reserve, created pursuant to Treaty #3.
The court reviewed extensive historical, ethnohistorical, and surveying evidence regarding the creation of the reserve in the 1870s.
The court found that the Crown intended to exclude the two-chain allowance from the reserve to accommodate the Dawson Route and the developing forestry industry.
The court further held that this exclusion did not breach the Crown's fiduciary duty or the honour of the Crown, as the Ojibway retained access to the shoreline and no express promise had been made to include it.
The plaintiffs' claims were dismissed.
