Rhiannon Maureen McNamara

On a statutory appeal under the Indian Act, the court held that the Registrar erred in denying registration and band list entry to a claimant seeking relief from historical sex-based discrimination arising from an ancestor's marriage to a non-Indian man before 1951.

The court found palpable and overriding error in the Registrar's refusal to give independent weight to oral family history, in requiring corroboration from sparse official records, and in assessing pieces of evidence in isolation rather than cumulatively.

The court further held that the unknown-ancestor provision in s. 5(6) applied to an ancestor whose name on a baptismal record was effectively indecipherable and historically untraceable.

Drawing reasonable inferences in the claimant's favour from the totality of the historical and genealogical evidence, the court reversed the Registrar and ordered registration and addition to the Wiikwemkoong Band List.

In a constitutional compliance review arising from Robinson-Superior Treaty augmentation litigation, the moving parties challenged both the Crown's engagement process and the compensation amount set after negotiations failed.

The court held that although aspects of engagement, including late disclosure of reliance on per-capita benchmarking against a related treaty settlement, caused serious relational harm, the reviewing role required deference to a range of honourable discretionary outcomes.

Applying a sui generis review framework grounded in honour of the Crown and reconciliatory justice, the court concluded the Crown's ultimate compensation determination of $3.6 billion plus agreed costs was justified in the legal and factual context.

The court therefore declined to intervene in the compensation decision while also addressing allocation issues between federal and provincial Crown responsibility in the reasons.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a third Case Management Conference regarding appeals by Walker Aggregates Inc. against the Region of Niagara and the City of Niagara Falls for failing to make decisions on Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendment applications to permit a mineral aggregate extraction operation.

The parties advised that a settlement in principle had been reached, significantly narrowing the issues.

The Tribunal granted requests to reschedule the hearing to a shorter 7-day duration in November 2026 and scheduled a fourth CMC for June 2026 to allow for finalization of settlement agreements and further discussions.

The plaintiffs brought a motion on consent for a partial judgment to give effect to a settlement agreement regarding past annuities payable under the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850.

The settlement resolves claims that the Crown failed to fulfill its promise to augment the annuity over time.

Under the agreement, the federal and provincial Crowns will pay $10 billion to the plaintiffs.

The court approved the settlement agreement and granted the partial judgment.

Ontario brought a motion to adjourn the Stage Three trial of a complex treaty rights claim sine die, pending the Supreme Court of Canada's decision on the appeal of Stage One and Stage Two.

The plaintiffs, interveners, and Canada opposed the motion.

The court applied the test for an adjournment, balancing the interests of the parties and the administration of justice.

The court found that the risk of proceeding was manageable, while the prejudice to the plaintiffs and the administration of justice caused by further delay would be significant.

The motion to adjourn was dismissed.