Case information

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Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Aboriginal law - Land claims - Mineral and mining rights - Contracts - Breach - Interpretation of Final Agreement - Courts - Judicial discretion - Declaratory orders - Is a dispute between the parties as to whether the representatives of the Crown have correctly interpreted and properly implemented the terms of a modern land agreement, a justiciable dispute - Do the courts have a duty to assist in the resolution of disputes regarding the interpretation and implementation of modern land claim agreements so as to help achieve the objective of reconciliation between aboriginal peoples and other Canadians.

The Applicant brought an application for final judgment on a declaration pursuant to Rule 18 of the Rules of Court, B.C. Reg. 221/90 and, as part of a summary trial conducted under Rule 18A, sought eight other declarations. The declaratory orders it sought relate to the proper construction and implementation of a Final Agreement the Applicant entered into with the Respondent and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, in settlement of land claims in the Yukon Territory. Part of the Final Agreement dealt with special management areas, one of which was established as the Tombstone Territorial Park (the "Park") in the Ogilvie Mountains. Some of the declarations sought relate to alleged inconsistencies between orders-in-council and the Final Agreement, and the allegedly improper exclusion of mines and minerals and of water beds and water rights from the lands transferred for use as the Park. The Applicant also sought damages from the Respondent Government of Yukon for alleged breaches of fiduciary duties.