Saugeen Ojibway Nation’s Legal Fight for Land, Waters, and Decision-Making Rights

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Last week, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) was in the news about how it is continuing to fight to protect the lands and waters of their Territory – known as Saukiing Anishinabekiing – on many different fronts. OKT continues to have the privilege of supporting the Saugeen Ojibway Nation in these efforts.

Ontario lawsuit underscores Indigenous anger over being left out of resource decisions | CBC News

Last year, Saugeen First Nation and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation – together known as the Saugeen Ojibway Nation – launched a lawsuit against Ontario about the province’s failure to meet its obligations when it comes to decisions about resource use in SON’s Territory, and the province’s failure to share the benefits from SON’s Territory with SON.

There are more than 500 pits and quarries operating in SON’s Territory, and the Territory is home to the largest salt mine in the world. SON has raised concerns about the impacts of such intense development over the past couple of decades, and had to go court in 2017 to insist that the province meet its constitutional duty to consult and accommodate before authorizing mining of aggregates. SON was successful in that case (2017 ONSC 3456 (CanLII) | Saugeen First Nation v. Ontario (MNRF) | CanLII), but Ontario has still not addressed the hundreds of pits and quarries that were approved before 2017 and continue in operation.

This more recent lawsuit is about addressing these past impacts and compensating SON for the resources coming out of the Territory. It is also fundamentally about rectifying the fact that SON has been wrongly been left out of decisions that impact their Territory.

The issues in the lawsuit have been amplified by Ontario’s passing of Bill 5, which introduces sweeping changes to legislation including removing protections for species at risk and archaeological sites, as well as creating “Special Economic Zones” where the province will be able to exempt certain proponents from provincial and municipal laws.  SON has vigorously opposed this Bill, stating in their submissions to the Environmental Registry of Ontario that “[t]he changes Ontario proposes in Bill 5 amount to an attack on our rights and way of life… We cannot and will not allow Ontario to destroy our way of life and our Territory.”  (see SON’s full submissions: https://www.saugeenojibwaynation.ca/news/son-stands-firm-against-ontarios-bill-5)

SON has repeatedly made it clear that they should not have to resort to fighting for their rights in the courtroom. Instead SON has called on governments to act honourably and engage in good faith negotiations to resolve the issues raised in this lawsuit and SON’s other claims (see SON Chiefs Open Letter).