Deal with land claim before Hwy. 69 expansion, First Nation tells province

Magnetawan First Nation, south of Sudbury wants the provincial government to deal with its 2021 land claim issue before the community provides property for widening Highway 69. (File)

Magnetawan First Nation, south of Sudbury wants the provincial government to deal with its 2021 land claim issue before the community provides property for widening Highway 69.

“Magnetawan First Nation is not holding back the expansion of (Highway) 69, we’re not,” said Chief William Lloyd Nogonash.

“But as far as the land claim, yes, we’re hoping that the province will pick up on this and bring it upon themselves to say, ‘We need to sit down with Magnetawan and deal with this issue also’ because it’s dealing with land too.”

Needs 150 acres

The province wants to finish four-laning the final 68 kilometres of Highway 69, but that requires 150 acres of land from Magnetawan, as well as property from Henvey Inlet and Shawanaga First Nations.

But before Magnetawan agrees, it wants the province to respond its land claim. The province has a five-year deadline to deal with land claim issues that expired in July 2025.

Magnetawan said the boundaries under the 1850 Robinson Huron Treaty were not properly set out.

“Originally, when they did the survey in 1851, they did the survey in miles rather than leagues, and a league is worth more than miles,” Nogonash said.

“So that’s where we got short-changed.”

While negotiations with the Canadian government have been going well, he said there has been radio silence from Ontario’s Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation.

No rubber stamp

Magnetawan’s lawyer isn’t sure how long it will take to settle the land claim.

“The history of this country, the history of this province is no rubber stamp,” said Stephen O’Neill, with Nahwegahbow Corbiere Firm.

“The length of the time that First Nations have to endure fighting for what they believe and what they state in good faith are their legal rights – is beyond any rubberstamp I’ve seen in 48 years in the justice system.”

Magnetawan won’t say how much land is connected to the claim.

“But we are definitely a growing community and we need that land. We need more homes and land for this,” said councillor Pamela De Hann.

CTV News contacted the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation but did not hear back by our deadline.