Saugeen First Nation won a land claim for a two-kilometre stretch of the northern strip of Sauble Beach after a lengthy court battle.Glen Lowson/The Globe and Mail
An Ontario judge has sided with the small Saugeen First Nation and ruled that a stretch of Sauble Beach, a popular tourist attraction on the shores of Lake Huron, was wrongly left out of its reserve boundaries almost 170 years ago.
After a legal battle that dates back to the 1990s, a court ruled this week that the First Nation owns an additional 2.4 kilometres of the seven-kilometre sandy beach, one of the longest freshwater beaches in the world and a magnet for as many as 1.5 million visitors a year.
The fight had at times been acrimonious, pitting cottagers who feared losing free access to the beach across the road from their properties against a First Nation seeking to right a historical wrong.
But this week, both the local municipality’s mayor and the chief of the Saugeen First Nation told The Globe and Mail that they hope the ruling can be a step toward reconciliation, and that, at least for this summer, Sauble’s many sunbathers and frisbee-throwers should notice no difference.
The Saugeen reserve, established by Treaty No. 72 in 1854, already includes what is known as South Sauble Beach, which has been fenced off in recent years and reserved for use by cottagers on land leased from the First Nation. In the past, the First Nation has charged admission for pedestrians and for cars to drive along its length.
Local First Nations leaders have long held that their territory was supposed to have included an additional stretch of beach that is open to the public and runs north of the town’s main street and its often-photographed “Welcome to Sauble Beach” sign.
After a lengthy trial featuring multiple expert witnesses, Justice Susan Vella of the Ontario Superior Court agreed with the Saugeen and the federal government, which had sided with the First Nation. The decision handed a defeat to the local Town of South Bruce Peninsula as well as to the province and a handful of private landowners who had fought the claim in court.
In her ruling, Justice Vella declared that a surveyor in 1856 had wrongly moved the boundaries of the reserve to avoid plotting a line through water and wet sand caused by the curve of the beach, and that this was “inconsistent with the honour of the Crown.”
Divisive conflict at Sauble Beach is older than Canada itself
While the losing side could appeal, future talks are set to begin on potential damages the First Nation is owed. There is also the question of any potential compensation for private landowners. If a settlement is not reached, there could be further court proceedings.
Saugeen Chief Conrad Ritchie said that while his community has been reeling from a rash of drug overdoses and COVID-19 deaths in recent years, it sees “a bit of hope” after decades of legal wrangling.
“The decision was huge, and a historical victory for Saugeen,” he said in an interview.
He said his members still had to discuss their ultimate plans for the beach. But he said talks with the town were also needed to sort out next steps. Chief Ritchie added that he was impressed with the approach of the town’s new mayor, Garry Michi, who met with him and brought a traditional gift of tobacco last year.
Last June, Mr. Michi defeated the previous mayor, Janice Jackson, who had spearheaded the legal battle against the First Nation. Mr. Michi said he is determined to repair relations with the Saugeen and would help keep Sauble Beach open and running, no matter who owns it. The town spends hundreds of thousands of dollars operating the beach, collecting much of it via parking revenue.
“There’s no doubt that we, me and him, can hash this out,” Mr. Michi, a retired firefighter who owns two local campgrounds, told The Globe. “Who really cares whose name is on it? At the end of the day, it’s theirs.”
Caught up in the middle of the dispute is David Dobson, owner of the Crowd Inn, a small fast-food shack right on the beach, and one of the few private landowners affected by the ruling.
Justice Vella does suggest that Mr. Dobson and the others who had until now owned private land on the beach could be granted a “life interest” in their existing properties. This would allow them to use the properties until they die and then the land would revert to the reserve. She asked for all the parties to make submissions to her on this notion. Reached on Wednesday, Mr. Dobson declined to comment on the idea.