Robinson Huron Treaty Chiefs Serve Notice of Annuities Claim on Ontario and Canada Asserting Entitlement to Resource Revenues from the Treaty Territory
Toronto, ON (Queen’s Park), Sept. 10, 2012 – Chiefs from the Robinson Huron Treaty territory, served Notice of Claim today on the Crown in right of Canada and the Crown in right of Ontario regarding the longstanding failure of the Crown to raise annuities under the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850.
Under the Robinson Huron Treaty, signed on September 9th, 1850, the Anishinabek (“Ojibway Indians”) agreed to share their lands and resources with the newcomers — approximately 35,700 square miles of territory. In return, the Crown, among other things, was supposed to pay annuities that were to be augmented from time to time. Treaty beneficiaries currently get $4.00 per year and there has been no increase since 1874. This despite the fact that the Treaty is explicit in stating that the annuities would increase if the resource revenue generated from the territory produced such an amount as to enable the increase without incurring a loss.read more