Jury Process Overview

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Currently, persons who do not live on reserve are selected at random from municipal enumeration lists to be considered for inclusion in a jury roll, which is a list of potential jurors.

A jury roll is developed for each county or district in Ontario.

The roll lists the names of persons in a county or district who would be eligible during the following year to serve as jurors.  Persons are randomly selected from the jury roll lists and receive a summons to attend court.

The process for the preparation of jury rolls is set out in the Juries Act.

The local judiciary determines the number of jurors required for the sittings of the Court for the following year based upon requirements in prior years and the anticipated number of trials.  These requirements are forwarded to the Ministry’s Provincial Jury Centre in the spring of each year.

In May or June, the Provincial Jury Centre communicates to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) the number of questionnaires that need to be sent in each court district for the ensuing year.  MPAC selects names at random from the most recent municipal enumeration of residents of each municipality within each county or district and then provides an electronic list of persons in the county or district to whom the jury service questionnaires are to be mailed.

Names and addresses of First Nation persons living off reserve are included in the municipal assessment process.

The questionnaires are mailed in September to each of the persons randomly selected together with a postage-paid return envelope.  A jury roll for each Superior Court of Justice location is then compiled from the eligible returned jury service questionnaires.

The questions in the juror questionnaire are based on the eligibility criteria set out in the Juries Act.  Eligibility criteria include age (jurors must be 18 years or older), ability to speak and read English or French and a number of exclusions based on profession (for example, lawyers are not eligible to service on a jury in Ontario).

First Nations Persons Living on Reserves

Given that the names of First Nations persons living on reserves are not reflected on municipal assessment lists, the Juries Act sets out additional specific provisions to include First Nations persons living on reserve on jury roll lists.  In May of each year, court locations contact First Nations communities to request updated Band Lists.

Next, court locations determine the number of First Nations residents on reserve in order to provide a proportionate number of jury questionnaires to First Nations persons living on reserve as are provided to the general population in that jurisdiction.

Court locations then randomly select this number of First Nations persons living on reserve to receive a jury questionnaire.  Names are drawn from the best available record, such as lists provided by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) in 2000 or any updated Band Lists provided by First Nations communities.

Eligible returned questionnaires received from First Nations persons living on reserve are included with those received through the MPAC process to compile the jury roll for a given year.

Throughout the year, court locations determine the number of panel members to be summoned for a particular court sitting and mail jury summonses for panel members to attend for jury service.

Jury panel members attend at the court location and may be called into court for selection for a specific trial.  Only a limited number of panel members are eventually selected to serve on a jury.

Brown v. Canada is litigation to hold the Government of Canada accountable for what is commonly referred to as the “Sixties Scoop” in which First Nations children were taken from their homes and families and placed in the care of non-Aboriginal homes and families.

A website is now available for individuals interested in Brown v. Canada case.  For updated information about the case or to participate in and register for this lawsuit, please visit www.sixtiesscoopclaim.ca

It is estimated that 75,000 day school students attended government funded, church run residential schools.
A class action suit has been undertaken to seek compensation for the suffering experienced by day students.
For more information please go to www.joanjack.ca

The Common Experience Payment is payment made under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement to former students who lived at a recognized Indian Residential School under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and who were alive on May 30, 2005.  Payments are $10,000 for the first school year (or part of a school year) plus $3,000 for each additional school year (or part of a school year).

To apply for a Common Experience Payment, please complete and submit an application form by September 19, 2011.  To get an application form, please call 1-866-879-4919, or visit a Service Canada Centre. Service Canada staff members are available to help applicants complete the CEP application form.

If you have already applied for a Common Experience Payment, please do not submit a new application.

According to Service Canada “as per the Settlement Agreement, applications will be accepted for up to one year after the application date only in such cases where the applicant could not apply within the designated time frame due to disability, undue hardship or other exceptional circumstances.  If you applying late, you will need to provide a reason, in writing, for the delay in application.”

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the IRS staff at Grand Council Treaty #3 at 807-548-4214 or toll free 1-800-665-3384.

(Queen’s Park/Toronto, Sept.1, 2011) An application for Judicial Review was filed earlier today with the Ontario Court of Justice Divisional Court. The Applicant is Grand Council Treaty #3, and the Respondents are the Province of Ontario as represented by the Ontario Ministry of Energy and the Ontario Power Authority (OPA).

The action is being initiated by Ogichidaakwe (Grand Chief) Diane Kelly and Chief Lorraine Cobiness of the Ochiichagwe’Babigo’Ining First Nation, Chief Janice Henderson of the Mitaanjigamiing First Nation, Chief Kimberley Sandy-Kasprick of the Northwest Angle #33 First Nation, Chief Earl Klyne of the Seine River First Nation. Collectively the Chiefs have been authorized to bring this application on behalf of all members of the Anishinaabe Nation.

Central to the issue is the Ontario Energy Minister’s direction to the OPA to develop the Hydroelectric Contract Initiative (HCI) without Aboriginal consultation. In question is the OPA’s development and implementation of the  HCI, the decision by OPA to enter into an HCI contract for existing hydroelectric generating facilities (Calm Lake, Sturgeon Falls, Fort Frances, Kenora, and Norman) in Treaty 3 territory with ACH Limited Partnership (ACH). As of May 2011, these dams are owned by Calgary based BluEarth Renewables Inc.

The core of the matter is the Respondents failure to perform their “duty to consult” with the Anishinaabe Nation in good faith and a duty to seek reasonable accommodation between their Aboriginal rights and interests and Crown interests prior to engaging in the Crown conduct.

Treaty 3 Ogichidaakwe (Grand Chief) Diane Kelly contends, “The Province and the OPA were aware of the Anishinaabe Nation’s Aboriginal and Treaty Rights. They also knew that operations of the ACH Generating Stations and  related dams had caused damage. It was reasonable to expect that terms of the HCI agreements would lead to new and potentially increased damages, such as more deleterious flooding related impacts on Lake Sturgeon (listed  by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) and on a traditional staple of the Anishinaabe culture, Manomin (commonly called Wild rice, Zizania palustris)

Chief Janice Henderson of the Mitaanjigamiing First Nation stated, “The impact of dam operations and expansion on our wild rice, fishing, and trapping is of significant importance to the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty 3. We feel we are a crucial period in our history and must stand up and protect our rights, claims and interests to govern, manage and ensure the sustainability of the traditional practice of ricing within all Treaty 3 communities.  Especially, within the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake watersheds.”

Chief Earl Klyne of the Seine River First Nation outlined how, “On May 27, 2011 Abitibi’s dams in Treaty 3 were sold without meaningful consultation with  the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty 3, or any Crown efforts to protect, accommodate or compensate Treaty 3 Anishinaabe communities for new impacts caused by the sale of the dams made possible by the HCI contract.” He  went on to explain, “Treaty 3 communities have become more and more  difficult to administer and manage, in part because of the expense of home heating and electricity. This situation exists despite there being large hydro-electric generating dams within Treaty 3 territory.”

Grand Chief Kelly observed, “We are very concerned that the Minister of Energy and the OPA intervened on behalf of the Abitibi dams to cause new impacts to our rights and interests. The government action should not have  occurred without consulting us. The HCI contract set the stage for new ownership and new impacts from these dams. She concluded by saying, “The Minister of Energy acted dishonorably by ignoring our claims, rights and inherent jurisdiction. This is why we have retained lawyers, David Estrin and Scott Smith of Gowlings and are seeking the judicial review of the decisions and actions of the Minister of Energy and the OPA at the Ontario  Divisional Court in this matter.”

For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:

• Donna Anderson – (807) 548-4214 x. 2241 / donna.anderson@treaty3.ca.

ACH dams: Calgary based BluEarth Renewables Inc. announced it had acquired ACH Limited Partnership stocks in May 2011. Previously owned by Abitibi Bowater and the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, the ACH suite of dams is eight hydroelectric plants (five in Treaty 3 territory) that supply a total capacity of 131 megawatts in Ontario. These plants have approximately 19 years remaining in a 20-year power purchase agreement with  the Ontario Power Authority, and will generate long-term stable cash flows for BluEarth.

Grand Council Treaty #3 is the historic government of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty 3 and is the political government for the 28 First Nations in the treaty area. The area of Treaty 3 within the Province of Ontario can be  described in general terms as the lands and waters in and about Lake of the Woods watershed, including the Rainy River and the lands below the height of land separating the Hudson Bay and Lake Winnipeg watershed. The  treaty area includes 26 First Nations in Northwestern Ontario and 2 First Nations in Manitoba.

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