The Woodstock Indian Band barricaded a railway right-of-way that crossed their reserve, claiming the railway company had no right to use the land.
The railway company sought a permanent injunction to restrain the Band from interfering with its right-of-way.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that the railway company's predecessor had acquired a statutory easement in the nature of a right-of-way over the land prior to Confederation, with the permission of the Crown.
This valid right-of-way was sufficient to support the award of a permanent injunction against the Band, without needing to determine whether the Band's underlying interest in the fee held by the Crown had been extinguished.
