Hope Bay cottage situation turns into nasty three-way fight

By Bill Henry, Wiarton Echo, May 23 2008

A legal battle that has left dozens of heart-broken cottagers barred from their cherished summer retreats at Hope Bay has descended into a nasty three-way fight.

The Chippewas of Nawash First Nation, in response to a $50-million lawsuit filed by 60 cottagers in February against both the band and the federal government, is rejecting claims the band was unjustly enriched by keeping the cottage buildings.

The Cape Croker aboriginal community is now also suing the government, for $60 million, and asking Ottawa to replace faulty septic systems and pay for environment damage and shoreline repairs, among other things.

The cottagers suit alleges officials with both Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and the Nawash band encouraged cottage families to keep investing in their seasonal residences after leases expired, then denied both long-promised new leases and any compensation for the buildings.

The cottagers are seeking $40 million in general damages and $10 million in punitive damages and costs. Those involved in the suit also claim the right to remove buildings, structures and improvements from the Hope Bay Subdivision lots they leased through INAC officials over almost 30 years.

The new court documents filed this week show the Chippewas argue the cottages are essentially in disrepair or fail to meet building code standards, and are in fact now an environmental liability.

Cottager spokeswoman Karen McCulloch expressed surprise the Chippewas would claim the cottages were in disrepair or any kind of environmental problem, saying those issues have never been raised until now.

“We are perplexed, because they’ve made some sweeping allegations in these statements and these were not issues that were raised in the many years that we were at Hope Bay,” McCulloch told The Sun Times in a telephone interview late Thursday.

The claims and cross-claims flow from a 1995 decision by the First Nation not to renew a 30-year agreement with Ottawa that allowed seasonal leases of their land in the Hope Bay subdivision of the Neyaashiinigming Indian Reserve on a scenic stretch of the northern Bruce Peninsula.

While families had used the cottages for decades in some cases, the land on which the buildings sit is part of the natives’ unceded reserve.

The cottagers continued to use the properties after 1995, in some cases renovating them, believing the leases might be renewed for another 20 years.

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In December 2006, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, who actually held the leases with the First Nation, wrote the 60 cottage families to say they were no longer able to access the properties.

They were given barely two months in the depths of winter to remove their belongings.

In their claim, the cottagers argue that Ottawa led them to believe new leases would be negotiated. They also argue they should have received 12 months notice so they could remove their possessions, which the First Nations now say are theirs.

“We’re standing by the claim that we filed that we are entitled to 12 months notice if leasing were to end,” McCulloch said.

“We’re entitled to an opportunity to remove the buildings that had been built originally under that agreement. Neither of those opportunities were provided and we’re claiming for compensation.”

The cottagers’ suit alleges that Indian Affairs and the band “wrongfully denied” their right to remove their cottages or should compensate them for their loss.

Until Ottawa filed its defense against the cottagers claim this week, Indian and Northern Affairs officials had taken no public position on the dispute over building ownership.

The court documents detailing Ottawa’s defence support the cottager’s right to remove the buildings.

But the federal government also argues the cottagers were given plenty of warning the leases might not be renewed and denies INAC ever made widespread promises they would be extended.

Ottawa also argues the group had plenty of time to remove their belongings and any claim for damages should be against the First Nation.

However, should the courts side with the cottagers that the government mishandled the lease situation, Ottawa is demanding that the Chippewas be responsible for any damages.

“The cross claims really are between those two parties,” McCulloch said.

“Cottagers do feel caught in the middle.”

With files from Canadian Press.

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