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Robinson Huron Treaty Annuities Case: Dispute on Legal Fees of $510 Million

Information to Beneficiaries of the Robinson Huron Treaty

You and Your First Nation May be Affected by Court Applications on Whether to Assess the Lawyers’ Fees on the Past Annuities Settlement and Whether the Past Annuities Settlement is a Trust Asset

Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Garden River First Nation have commenced a court application against the lawyers for the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund.  The application claims that the lawyer’s fees of $510 million were too high and asks the court to reduce them (the “Assessment Application”). The Assessment Application is viewed as a necessary step to ensure that the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund is following the law, particularly the Solicitors Act.  The Assessment Application only concerns the lawyers’ fees of $510 million – it does not take any position on the remaining settlement funds of $9.49 billion, which should continue to be distributed as planned. In fact, the Assessment Application asks the Court to declare that the case is limited to only the $510 million in legal fees, and that nothing in the court application affects the ordinary course of distribution of the remaining Settlement funds.

On April 22, 2024, the trustees of the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund approved $510 million in legal fees to its lawyers.  The lawyers agreed to keep $255 million and allocate $255 million to certain causes of their choosing which are associated with the Robinson Huron Treaty First Nations. 

The lawyers’ fees will be paid from the $10 billion settlement for past annuities owed to beneficiaries of the Robinson Huron Treaty. This means that all fees paid to the lawyers are coming out of the funds for beneficiaries, which may affect you and your First Nation. The first step in the Assessment Application asks the court to decide whether to assess the lawyers’ fees. If the court agrees, then the Assessment Application will proceed to the second step, which will determine whether the lawyers’ fees of $510 million are appropriate in the circumstances. The goal is to reduce the lawyers’ fees to allow more funds to be distributed to the First Nations and beneficiaries.

The Litigation Management Committee of the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund has commenced a separate court application.  The application asks about the legal status of the settlement money held by the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund.  The aim is to determine what steps should be taken before distributing the money to beneficiaries (the “Trust Application”). Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Garden River take no position on the Trust Application. Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Garden River wrote a letter to the Trustees of the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund, explaining their concerns that the Litigation Management Committee of the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund had brought a court application that threatened the timely distribution of the Settlement, and asked them to not be the cause of any delay. A copy of the letter can be found here.

 

You Can Watch the Court Hearing

The court hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 30, 2024 at 10:00 am. All beneficiaries of the Robinson Huron Treaty are welcome to watch the hearing, either in person at the Courthouse, or by videoconference. You can attend the hearing in person at 361 University Avenue (Courtroom 4-8) in Toronto.

The videoconference link can be found below:

https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/67927063702?pwd=c1Z2eFN3NXB1N0xOK0lYSWtCL2ZBZz09 
Meeting ID: 679 2706 3702 
Passcode: 007287 

The link will also be posted on the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund’s website (https://www.rht1850.ca/) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/RobinsonHuronTreatyAnnuities1850/). 

 

More Information

The Notice of Application for the Assessment Application is available here.

The Notice of Application for the Trust Application is available here.

The Notice to Beneficiaries is available here.

For more information please contact:

Gimaa Craig Nootchtai       (705) 692-3651 x.1106

Ogimaa Kwe Karen Bell        (705) 946-6300 ext. 235