Francis v. Pictou Landing First Nation, 1999 CanLII 9 (NS CA)

This case was heard in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

After legal proceedings between Pictou Landing First Nation and the Crown concerning contamination caused by an effluent treatment facility at Boat Harbour, Pictou County, the parties struck a Settlement Agreement that included a monetary award to the Pictou Landing Mi’kmaq.

Some of that money was used to create a Continuing Compensation Account that allowed affected members of Pictou Landing First Nation to file claims for loss or damage caused by the operation of the effluent treatment facility. The terms of the Agreement outlined the ways in which claims would be considered and reviewed.

The appellants in this case filed a claim that was heard by an arbitrator. After considering the claim, the arbitrator calculated that the appellants should receive a much smaller sum than the one they had requested. When the appellants initiated an appeal of the arbitrator’s decision in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, the Chief and Council of Pictou Landing First Nation filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the Court did not have jurisdiction to rule on the arbitrator’s decision.

After considering the terms of the Settlement Agreement and related law, the Court rejected the arguments of the Chief and Council and allowed the appeal to proceed.

To read more about the appeal, go to Francis v. Pictou Landing First Nation, 1999 CanLII 971 (NS CA).

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nsca/doc/1999/1999canlii9/1999canlii9.html

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