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3h ago

Supreme Court Declines Appeal in Sauble Beach Treaty Case

The refusal leaves intact lower-court findings that a wrongly drawn 19th-century boundary places part of the beach inside the Saugeen reserve.

Saugeen First Nation members work on changing the lettering of the former Sauble Beach welcome sign, updated to reflect the re-allocation of the land to the First Nations community, on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Cheree Urscheler (Mandatory Credit)
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Over the Canada Day long weekend, this sign replaced a decades-old one that read 'Welcome to Sable Beach.' The sandy piece of Lake Huron shoreline has been a tourist draw since the 1920s, but has been at the centre of a legal dispute over the interpretation of an 1854 treaty between the Crown and the Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation.

Overview

  • Canada’s top court on Thursday refused leave to the Town of South Bruce Peninsula and several private landowners, providing no reasons as is customary.
  • The decision keeps a 2023 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling in force that granted Saugeen First Nation possession of roughly 2.2 kilometres of Sauble Beach shoreline.
  • Lower courts concluded an 1855 survey conflicted with the 1854 treaty, determining the disputed strip should have been within the reserve.
  • The town and landowners argued they face dispossession and broader uncertainty for private landholding, while Saugeen’s lawyer framed the case as a narrow boundary correction rather than an Aboriginal title claim.
  • A second-phase court process is pending to set compensation for private owners and remedies for the First Nation, as local tensions persist following the replacement of the town’s welcome sign.