Wolastoqey Nations claim title to land owned by JD Irving and other companies due to “reckless resource extraction”

On Nov. 30, the six Wolastoqey First Nations in New Brunswick filed a legal claim to take back land given to JD Irving Limited and 18 of its subsidiaries or related entities, NB Power, and four other forestry companies: Acadian Timber, Twin Rivers Paper, HJ Crabbe & Sons, and A.V. Group.

In a statement, the First Nation chiefs declared: “The Wolastoqey share a deep concern with many regular New Brunswickers that reckless resource extraction through mining, forestry and other activities has left our rivers, forests, and lakes on the brink of decimation.”

The Wolastoqey have never ceded or surrendered title to their land, and they filed their original land claim in October 2020. Yesterday’s filing clarified that the five million hectares the Wolastoqey claim as their traditional lands includes the 20 per cent of those lands the companies have operations on.

The land owned by NB Power and claimed by the Wolastoqey includes the Mactaquac Dam and the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station.

“Today is about holding to account those corporations that have not paid fair value for the land they’ve profited from for decades and decades” – Chief Patricia Bernard.

At a media event following the filing of claim, Madawaska First Nation Chief Patricia Bernard explained that the Wolastoqey chose those companies as defendants because as the largest landowners in New Brunswick, they have a history of getting land from the province without paying a fair price for it.

“Let me be clear on this point, it is not, and it never has been, in the public interest to give away land for free to large corporations,” Bernard said. “Today is about holding to account those corporations that have not paid fair value for the land they’ve profited from for decades and decades. It’s also about the willful negligence of our provincial government, which allow these companies to run amok with operations that have left our traditional land scarred and torn with their future in jeopardy.”

“We have long warned government about the detrimental impacts of these activities,” Bernard continued. “Now the consequences of climate change have multiplied the urgency with which we must change course. It is the responsibility of the Wolastoqey to look after this land, to make sure that it’s sustainable for the next seven generations to come.”

“It’s very important that we work together–six Wolastoq communities, and our neighboring Mi’kmaq family, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot–to do our parts and restore the balance to the best of our ability” – Chief Shelley Sabattis

Also at the media event, Oromocto First Nation Chief Shelley Sabattis said it is time for the Wolastoqey to bring back the balance to the earth. “There’s been a lot of damage done to our sacred gifts, that each group of people were given to protect and to use rightfully. And as you can see, it has been disrespected, across our territory, across the region, and globally. We are the keepers of the land. It’s very important that we work together–six Wolastoq communities, and our neighboring Mi’kmaq family, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot–to do our parts and restore the balance to the best of our ability.”

The Wolastoq chiefs and their legal team acknowledge that claiming land given to companies has never been part of a land claim before in Canada but said that just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean that it can’t happen now. The legal process to resolve the claim will likely take decades followed by negotiated partnership arrangements with the companies.

“You know that any journey starts with one step, right? So, we do realize that this is going to take a long time,” said Bernard. “We’ve been waiting for centuries and we’re not going anywhere. Governments come and go, but our nation stays. So even if we may not be around to see the end results, our children, our grandchildren and our great grandchildren will.”

Chief Bernard clarified that the claim does not seek to displace New Brunswickers but calls for compensation from the Crown for the loss of that land. The only private landowners the Wolastoqey are trying to get land back from are companies named in the claim.

“If you’re not one of these companies, you have nothing to worry about,” Bernard said, adding, “if the attorney general or the premier tries to say otherwise, it’s not true. It is the private interests of Irving and other corporations they are protecting. Don’t let them mislead you.”

Susan O’Donnell is the lead researcher for the RAVEN (Rural Action and Voices for the Environment) project at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.