Completed Inquiries – Reports Released

01/06/2003

Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation [Toronto Purchase] – June 2003

In June 1986, the Mississauga Tribal Claims Council submitted a number of claims, including the Toronto Purchase claim, to Canada. The claims were submitted on behalf of five First Nations, one of which was the Mississaugas of the New Credit. In June 1993, Canada advised the Chiefs of the five First Nations that their claims had been rejected because they did not fall within the scope of the Specific Claims Policy.

On March 10, 1998, the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation asked the ICC to conduct an inquiry into the rejection of this claim and, in May 1998, the Commission informed Canada of its intention to do so.

The First Nation claimed that the federal government, in a breach of trust, failed to explain adequately the circumstances around the purchase of traditional land in 1787 (known as the Toronto Purchase) and failed to inform the First Nation that the 1787 surrender was invalid. The First Nation also maintained that a second surrender in 1805, intended by the government to ratify the 1787 purchase and validate the surrender, included more land than was originally agreed to by the First Nation in the 1787 surrender. The 1805 surrender included the Toronto Islands, which the First Nation asserts were explicitly excluded from the 1787 surrender. The First Nation never accepted the boundaries laid out under the 1805 surrender.

After a series of planning conferences, the First Nation forwarded a new legal submission to Canada in March 1999. The new submission related the applicable law to the factual allegations in greater detail than had the earlier submission. As well, the new document reiterated that, for the purpose of the inquiry, the First Nation was prepared to recognize that the 1805 purchase was a valid treaty. More important, however, it confirmed that the First Nation did not take the position that the Toronto Islands were excluded from the purchase, which was what had given rise to Canada’s concern that the claim fell outside the Specific Claims mandate.

As a result of the new legal submission, Canada agreed to review the claim on its merits, in accordance with the issues set out in the March 1999 legal submission.

Over the next six months, the parties received several updates on the status of the claim by conference call. There were no further developments, however, until the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairsnotified the First Nation in July 2002, that Canada was willing to accept the claim in part. Canada took the position that it would negotiate under the Specific Claims Policy on the basis that the 1805 surrender amounted to a non-fulfillment of a treaty or agreement between the Indians and the Crown. It did not concede that there had been a breach of fiduciary duty in the negotiation of the 1805 surrender such that there existed an outstanding lawful obligation on the part of Canada. Canada set out the compensation criteria by which it was willing to negotiate the claim and outlined various other conditions governing the negotiation process.

The First Nation accepted Canada’s offer to negotiate and, as a result, the Commission ended its inquiry into the claim. The Commission issued a report of its findings in June, 2003.

Response: In July 2002, the government accepted the claim for negotiation while ICC's inquiry was underway. The claim is currently in mediation at the ICC.

To download the report - PDF

To view the mediation summary