JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Quebec Superior Court’s decision to dismiss a motion by Rio Tinto’s Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) subsidiary and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, which sought to remove the portion of the IOC's operations in Labrador from the Innu's lawsuit, was welcomed by the Innu First Nations of Uashat mak Mani-utenam and Matimekush-Lac John.
The court decided that Quebec courts have jurisdiction to hear the Innus’s entire claim for $900-million against IOC, and that they could thereby rule on their land claims on both sides of the Quebec-Labrador border.
"Rio Tinto and its IOC subsidiary are once again using every means to slow down the legal process with the aim of postponing the actual hearing on the merits of the case,” said Uashat mak Mani-utenam chief Mike McKenzie.
“This is our fourth victory in this case, and we're especially pleased that a judgment has finally demonstrated that our rights to our traditional territory, our Nitassinan, do not end at Canadian-imposed borders," he said.
McKenzie added that the decision reinforced their desire and resolve to see this process through to the end. “The company will have to face up to its actions and its systemic violation of our territory and our rights since the 1950s."
This is the fourth setback for IOC, after the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear an appeal by the company on October 15, 2015. This attempt to take the case to the Supreme Court followed the company's defeat before the Superior Court and the Quebec Court of Appeal.
At that time, IOC asked the courts to dismiss the proceedings against it, claiming that the Innu should take legal action against the government and not a private company.
"Rio Tinto (IOC) remains steadfast in unreasonably pursuing its rogue path rather than seeking to resolve a disgraceful chapter in its history. Several other mining companies are active and behaving like good corporate citizens in our territory and elsewhere in Canada. It is unfair to these companies that Rio Tinto continues to act as a bad corporate citizen," added McKenzie.