Wolastoqey Nation plans to take title claim of forest land appeal to Supreme Court

Trees in a forest are seen near Minto, N.B., on July 28, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

HALIFAX — The Wolastoqey Nation plans to appeal a ruling at the highest court in Canada.

In what the First Nation calls a “disappointing” decision, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal ruled in favour Thursday of private logging corporations in an Aboriginal title claim case launched by the Wolastoqey Nation in 2021.

The ruling found that the court needs to allow private owners to participate in a process where the private land is subject to an Aboriginal title claim against the Crown.

In a statement on their website, the Wolastoqey Nation says they are instructing their lawyers to seek leave to appeal this ruling with the Supreme Court of Canada.

The First Nation says it had been seeking three things with their lawsuit. They first wanted a declaration recognizing Aboriginal title over their territory, which included land owned by private forestry companies.

The Wolastoqey were also seeking the return of some of that land, including parcels owned by the corporations.

Lastly, they sought compensation from the Crown. The First Nation maintains that the land was never ceded to the government, and the Crown sold it without their consent.

The group says that this case has “always been about affirming our unique relationship to our traditional territory.”

As part of its case, the nation added land owned by logging companies J.D. Irving, H.J. Crabbe and Sons, and Acadian Timber to the title claim.

Last year, a New Brunswick court ruled that the corporations did not have legal standing in the Wolastoqey Nation’s claim and removed them as appellants from the case.

All three companies filed appeals of that decision.

On Thursday, Appeals Court Justice Ernest Drapeau found that the court could not issue a declaration of Aboriginal title over the private land without allowing the companies to participate in the case.

In his decision, Drapeau wrote that the property rights of “private corporations carrying out industrial undertakings are no different than those of other private titleholders in the province, including ordinary homeowners.”

Drapeau ruled that the original judge erred in her decision as “procedural fairness rights are triggered by an interest in the outcome of the proceeding, not the existence of a direct legal relationship.”

In his ruling, Drapeau wrote that the private corporations “unquestionably” have an interest in the Wolastoqey claim for title, and as such, should not have been removed as appellants.

Alex Cameron, a lawyer representing H.J. Crabbe and Sons, wrote in an emailed statement that the forestry industry “has lately been rocked by tariffs imposed by the U.S. In that context, my client is very happy with today’s decision of the NB Court of Appeal dismissing the Wolastoqey claim against its lands.”

The ruling still allows the Wolastoqey Nation to pursue a title claim with the Crown by including the private land in a “finding of title,” meaning the Crown could be liable to pay damages on the entire parcel of land without the corporations having to give up territory.

Justice Drapeau distinguished between a “declaration” of title and a “finding” of title.

A declaration, what the Wolastoqey Nation was originally seeking, would have granted them ownership of the land.

The ruling says that a finding of title simply acknowledges that the First Nation never ceded the territory.

The Wolastoqey Nation was also ordered to pay $10,000 to each of the three companies to cover costs associated with the case.

A lawyer representing Acadian Timber and a representative for J.D. Irving both declined to comment on the ruling.

By Emily Baron Cadloff

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.