Canadian taxpayers will be paying $10 billion to an estimated 30,000 Ojibways in northwestern Ontario because of alleged 'broken treaty promises.'And that’s not all.A June 2023, out-of-court settlement calls for the Ojibways to receive a negotiated share of all future mineral, timber and other wealth generated in the 60,350 square km area covered by the Robinson Treaties of 1850.The Ojibway bands have ratified the $10 billion plus settlement agreement.All that remains is for the appropriate federal and Ontario cabinet ministers to sign the final document.The root cause of this financial boondoggle is the unsubstantiated findings of a judge of the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice who claimed that:1. God placed the Ojibways on the land at the time of creation.2. The treaties were negotiated on a nation-to-nation basis.3. There was no cap on the annuity called for in the treaties.4. The Crown has a 'mandatory' obligation to increase the flow of money to the Ojibways on a perpetual basis..Let’s take a closer look.1.) Commissioner of Crown Lands D. B. Papineau, who received brief mention in Justice Patricia Hennessy’s flawed 2018 decision in Restoule v. Canada (Attorney General), stated before the treaties were negotiated in 1850 that the Ojibways living on the north shores of Lake Huron and Lake Superior had “emigrated from the United States” and were “not the original proprietors of the soil.”In fact, elders interviewed in their own language by William Whipple Warren for his 1885 History of the Ojibway People said that the Ojibways were originally “from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, about the Gulf of the St. Lawrence River.”Contrary to the findings of Justice Patricia Hennessy, they were most definitely not “placed” on the Robinson Treaties area at the beginning of time.2.) At the time the two Robinson Treaties were negotiated, the absolute sovereignty of the British Crown over Canada and all of its inhabitants, including the Ojibways, was recognized in international law.The text of both treaties says the Queen “desires to deal liberally with all her subjects.”The population of the Province of Canada in 1850 was more than 2.5 million of which the Ojibways covered by the Robinson Treaties accounted for less than 3,000.At the time of the negotiations, two of the Ojibway chiefs had been arrested on the north shore of Lake Superior, jailed in Toronto and were out on bail.Not exactly a “nation-to-nation” state of affairs.In negotiating Treaty #3 with the Ojibways living in the territory immediately west of the area covered by the Robinson Treaties in 1873, Lieutenant-Governor Alexander Morris stated quite properly that he was dealing with “British Indians on British soil.”Contrary to the findings of Justice Patricia Hennessy, the Robinson Treaties were most definitely not negotiated on a “nation-to-nation” basis.3.) The text of both treaties clearly states that the initial annuity would be increased if government revenues permitted “provided that the amount paid to each individual shall not exceed the sum of one pound (CDN$4) provincial currency in any one year or such further sum as Her Majesty shall be graciously pleased to order.”In 1875, 25 years after the Robinson Treaties were negotiated, an item in The Supplies Act of Canada said: “Annual grant to bring up annuities payable under the Robinson Treaty to the Chippawas (Ojibways) of Lake Huron and Superior from 96 cents to $4 per head, $14,000.”The government of the day fulfilled the terms of the treaty by increasing the annuity to the maximum $4.It would appear that Queen Victoria, as was her discretionary right, did not feel “graciously pleased” to provide further increases.Nor, for that matter, has there been any increase in the annuities in any of the 11 treaties the new Dominion of Canada entered into between 1871 and 1922.4.) In his report to the Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, Commissioner William B. Robinson said he negotiated the treaties “on the basis of a small annuity and the immediate and final settlement of the matter, rather than paying the Indians the full amount of all the moneys on hand, and a promise of accounting to them for future sales.“The latter course (accounting for future sales/wealth) would have entailed much trouble to the Government, besides giving an opportunity to evil disposed persons to make the Indians suspicious of any accounts that might be furnished.”It is clear from the commissioner’s report that the treaties of 1850 were meant to be the final word on the matter and there would be no reporting to the Ojibways of future sales, revenues or wealth.Successive governments have met all of the terms of the Robinson Treaties.In fact, they went far beyond, by providing housing, education, social assistance, water and sewer services, economic development assistance and much more about which there isn’t so much as a single word in the text of the treaties.Nothing in the historical record supports paying the Ojibways of northwestern Ontario so much as $1 more than the maximum $4 annuity called for in the Robinson Treaties of 1850.Why then, you might ask your local Member of Parliament, are Canadian taxpayers on the hook for $10 billion plus? Toronto author Robert MacBain wrote extensively about the numbered treaties in his book 'Their Home and Native Land'
Canadian taxpayers will be paying $10 billion to an estimated 30,000 Ojibways in northwestern Ontario because of alleged 'broken treaty promises.'And that’s not all.A June 2023, out-of-court settlement calls for the Ojibways to receive a negotiated share of all future mineral, timber and other wealth generated in the 60,350 square km area covered by the Robinson Treaties of 1850.The Ojibway bands have ratified the $10 billion plus settlement agreement.All that remains is for the appropriate federal and Ontario cabinet ministers to sign the final document.The root cause of this financial boondoggle is the unsubstantiated findings of a judge of the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice who claimed that:1. God placed the Ojibways on the land at the time of creation.2. The treaties were negotiated on a nation-to-nation basis.3. There was no cap on the annuity called for in the treaties.4. The Crown has a 'mandatory' obligation to increase the flow of money to the Ojibways on a perpetual basis..Let’s take a closer look.1.) Commissioner of Crown Lands D. B. Papineau, who received brief mention in Justice Patricia Hennessy’s flawed 2018 decision in Restoule v. Canada (Attorney General), stated before the treaties were negotiated in 1850 that the Ojibways living on the north shores of Lake Huron and Lake Superior had “emigrated from the United States” and were “not the original proprietors of the soil.”In fact, elders interviewed in their own language by William Whipple Warren for his 1885 History of the Ojibway People said that the Ojibways were originally “from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, about the Gulf of the St. Lawrence River.”Contrary to the findings of Justice Patricia Hennessy, they were most definitely not “placed” on the Robinson Treaties area at the beginning of time.2.) At the time the two Robinson Treaties were negotiated, the absolute sovereignty of the British Crown over Canada and all of its inhabitants, including the Ojibways, was recognized in international law.The text of both treaties says the Queen “desires to deal liberally with all her subjects.”The population of the Province of Canada in 1850 was more than 2.5 million of which the Ojibways covered by the Robinson Treaties accounted for less than 3,000.At the time of the negotiations, two of the Ojibway chiefs had been arrested on the north shore of Lake Superior, jailed in Toronto and were out on bail.Not exactly a “nation-to-nation” state of affairs.In negotiating Treaty #3 with the Ojibways living in the territory immediately west of the area covered by the Robinson Treaties in 1873, Lieutenant-Governor Alexander Morris stated quite properly that he was dealing with “British Indians on British soil.”Contrary to the findings of Justice Patricia Hennessy, the Robinson Treaties were most definitely not negotiated on a “nation-to-nation” basis.3.) The text of both treaties clearly states that the initial annuity would be increased if government revenues permitted “provided that the amount paid to each individual shall not exceed the sum of one pound (CDN$4) provincial currency in any one year or such further sum as Her Majesty shall be graciously pleased to order.”In 1875, 25 years after the Robinson Treaties were negotiated, an item in The Supplies Act of Canada said: “Annual grant to bring up annuities payable under the Robinson Treaty to the Chippawas (Ojibways) of Lake Huron and Superior from 96 cents to $4 per head, $14,000.”The government of the day fulfilled the terms of the treaty by increasing the annuity to the maximum $4.It would appear that Queen Victoria, as was her discretionary right, did not feel “graciously pleased” to provide further increases.Nor, for that matter, has there been any increase in the annuities in any of the 11 treaties the new Dominion of Canada entered into between 1871 and 1922.4.) In his report to the Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, Commissioner William B. Robinson said he negotiated the treaties “on the basis of a small annuity and the immediate and final settlement of the matter, rather than paying the Indians the full amount of all the moneys on hand, and a promise of accounting to them for future sales.“The latter course (accounting for future sales/wealth) would have entailed much trouble to the Government, besides giving an opportunity to evil disposed persons to make the Indians suspicious of any accounts that might be furnished.”It is clear from the commissioner’s report that the treaties of 1850 were meant to be the final word on the matter and there would be no reporting to the Ojibways of future sales, revenues or wealth.Successive governments have met all of the terms of the Robinson Treaties.In fact, they went far beyond, by providing housing, education, social assistance, water and sewer services, economic development assistance and much more about which there isn’t so much as a single word in the text of the treaties.Nothing in the historical record supports paying the Ojibways of northwestern Ontario so much as $1 more than the maximum $4 annuity called for in the Robinson Treaties of 1850.Why then, you might ask your local Member of Parliament, are Canadian taxpayers on the hook for $10 billion plus? Toronto author Robert MacBain wrote extensively about the numbered treaties in his book 'Their Home and Native Land'
