By Anne Finlay-Stewart

For the almost 900 people who packed two public meetings about First Nation ownership of a short strip of Sauble Beach shoreline, the issue probably comes down to this: Which of the people at the front of the room do you trust?

The meetings were chaired by Town of South Bruce Peninsula (TSBP) mayor John Close, and you could smell election year in the crowd. Close faced pointed questions about notice and timing of the meetings, public access to the proposed agreement, and a perceived rush to make a decision in September before the current council becomes a so-called "lame-duck."

The purpose of the meeting was to present an offer developed in mediation by representatives of the Saugeen First Nation (SFN), the Town of South Bruce Peninsula (TSBP), the province of Ontario and the government of Canada, to settle a decades-old claim over the eastern boundary of the Saugeen Reserve. The proposal would give the SFN ownership of the beach, west of Lakeshore Boulevard to the water, from Main Street to approximately Sixth Street. If accepted by all parties, the agreement would assure public access to the beach, which would be managed by a Joint Management Board of the town and the SFN.

Disputes over encroachment on the Reserve boundaries are first recorded in the late 1890s, and the past twenty years have seen a series of lawsuits and failed mediation attempts.

Justice Ian Binnie, highly respected in his long career as a courtroom lawyer and Supreme Court judge, moderated the recent mediation and presented an overview of the process and its significance. Discussions over the eighteen months of meetings revolved around interests the parties had in common and negotiations determined that the advantage of reaching a settlement was greater than the risks of litigation.

Normally when disputes between neighbours end up in court and someone loses, Binnie said, one of the neighbours moves. In this case, the town is not going anywhere and the First Nation is not going anywhere.

The proposed offer has not been accepted by anybody yet, Justice Binnie emphasized, and according to the principals of mediation, there will be no agreement on anything unless there is agreement on everything. If mediation fails and the trial judge determines that the stretch of beach under dispute is part of the Reserve, it will come under the Indian Act and all future discussions will be with the federal government.

Gary Penner of the federal Department of Justice outlined the essential history of the Saugeen (now Bruce) Peninsula since colonization, explaining that the entire peninsula was the original Reserve and the salient Treaty 72 was the result of pressure by settlers for more farm land.

The creation of the much smaller reserves in 1854 went with a commitment to set aside all proceeds from the sale of land to settlers "in trust" for the First Nations. In describing the sort of research and expert witnesses that would be required in a trial situation, Penner stated that the judge must determine the understanding of all parties involved at the time the treaty was undertaken. He said that over 800 documents have been deemed to be relevant to the current claim, and specifically mentioned the maps and notes of surveyor Charles Rankin who was present at the treaty signing, a letter from the son of an original land owner, and sounding charts from the time.

He also confirmed that the federal government has taken the position that the Reserve's boundary has been misunderstood.

Penner's opinion was that the SFN has "a strong and powerful case" should the claim proceed to court, although he patiently acknowledged that he was unable to present to the audience every piece of evidence that could be raised by both sides over the course of lengthy litigation.

The town's lawyer, Greg Stewart, gave further details of the offer proposed by the mediation team, which include public access to the beach and joint management by a board of three members from TSBP and three from the SFN, including the chair.

In answer to questions from the public, Stewart clarified that the town's representatives would not be elected but rather appointed by the town council as is the norm under the Ontario Municipal Act, a response that drew a grumbling of distrust at both the Sauble and Wiarton meetings.

Stewart submitted that it was his duty to explain the terms of the settlement proposal and the risks of litigation, as he would with any individual client. In this case the next steps will involve mounting costs, he said, and if TSBP loses in court, it will lose all access to the beach unless Saugeen First Nation, as owner, says different.

According to the information sheet circulated, the financial costs of litigation and appeals, including a likely portion of the costs of the other parties, could be up to $7-million or more.

The proposal on the eastern boundary was also presented to the members of the Saugeen First Nation at a community meeting on August 5. It has been almost ten years since Chief Vernon Roote co-signed the following:

"If we are driven into the courts to defend our rights again, we will go - without joy but with determination, and thinking that this is not the relationship Canada promised when our ancestors signed Treaty 72, 150 years ago."

Perhaps this is the opportunity to set that relationship right.

With no guarantee that any of the three other parties involved in the mediation will accept the proposed offer, the Town of South Bruce Peninsula is faced with the following decision. Offer to accept the proposal with continued public access, joint management and possible upper-tier financial support of the beach that is so crucial to its economy, and no further legal costs or risks. Or take a chance on lengthy trials that may result in the status quo, or could mean loss of any control and a legal bill to be shared among taxpayers of TSBP.

Much depends on who has the trust of the people.

Sauble Beach Land Claim Information http://www.southbrucepeninsula.com/en/newslist/index.aspx?deptId=8Endvpatc3gylpBOCSt6ngeQuAleQuAl&newsId=KErNIY7vzOOBGXDNuEfxZgeQuAleQuAl

Written comments will be received by email at tsbpadministrator@bmts.com

by mail or in person at Town of South Bruce Peninsula, P.O. Box 315, 315 George St., Wiarton, ON N0H 1T0

Anne Finlay-Stewart is Community Editor of Owensoundhub.org. She can be reached at annekfs@gmail.com.