A judge has ordered the Town of South Bruce Peninsula to pay $1.61-million to Saugeen First Nation for legal fees relating to the Sauble Beach boundary case.
Superior Court Justice Susan Vella made the ruling Tuesday, finding Saugeen is entitled to costs against defendants.
Vella says in her decision the town is responsible for 50 per cent of Saugeen’s costs — about $1.61-million — while the Ontario government will be ordered to pay $1.28-million and the Government of Canada $322,000.
“Chief and council are grateful that the court has recognized the significant expenses that Saugeen First Nation has incurred over the years to advance our community’s rights,” Saugeen Chief Conrad Ritchie says in a statement shared online. “We are very pleased that the court not only recognized our rights, but has now also allowed us to recovered a significant portion of our legal costs that we can direct toward supporting our community in other ways.”
Justice Vella also ordered South Bruce Peninsula to pay $467,000 of the federal government’s costs related to the case.
Canada sought 50 per cent of its costs from the town as “it was the successful defendant in the main issue before the court.” She agreed with the federal government’s position.
Canada’s been supportive of Saugeen’s position in the Sauble Beach boundary dispute in recent decades. The federal government brought a claim on behalf of Saugeen in 1990, before the First Nation started its own litigation in 1995.
“The town took an adversarial stance against Canada throughout the trial,” Vella says in her ruling. “Furthermore, there is no basis for denying Canada, as the successful defendant, its reasonable costs.”
The town issued a statement saying it intends to appeal. And as a result, the cost award is suspended until the appeal is resolved.
“The town firmly believes that the costs should be borne by Canada, as it alone was responsible for the identification of the Reserve boundary, the survey, and the Crown patents which granted the town title to its beach,” a May 22 statement from the Town of South Bruce Peninsula says. “Notably, Canada admitted at trial that it breached its fiduciary duties.”
Last year, Vella ruled in favour of Saugeen First Nation in the Sauble Beach boundary dispute, determining a stretch of about 1.4-miles — or around 2.25 kilometres — of the beach north of the famous Welcome Sign at Main Street is reserve land never surrendered by Saugeen.
The town is also appealing that ruling, and it’s scheduled to be heard in court starting next week (May 27).
