Irving-owned company settles in Wolastoqey title claim suit

One of the many industrial companies named in a large title claim from the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick has been removed from the lawsuit. 

Chief Patricia Bernard of Madawaska First Nation says a deal has been reached with Strescon, a Saint John-based concrete company and a subsidiary of John Irving's Ocean Capital.

Bernard said the company offered to provide a bursary scholarship for Wolastoqey students in the trades through New Brunswick Community College. The scholarship has a value of $120,000, and two students annually would be able to receive a bursary of up to $5,000.

"So when the opportunity arose, we jumped at it and said certainly that's our whole goal, is to try and settle these issues and not spend millions of dollars in court," Bernard said in an interview with Information Morning Fredericton.

Bernard said Strescon came forward over a year ago to settle, and the deal, the agreement, was reached after negotiation through lawyers.

"It was very simple and easy because I think they really took the time to understand the reconciliation portion of it, and the importance of education and giving back not only to the First Nations, but to the province as well," she said.

Launched in 2021, the lawsuit asserts title to over half of New Brunswick and specifically names the federal government, N.B. Power, and six predominantly forestry companies and several of their subsidiaries.

The Wolasotqey Nation says it never gave up title to its land in the watershed of the St. John River, also known as Wolastoq, when Peace and Friendship Treaties were signed with the British Crown in the 18th century.

Leaders of the communities have previously said the title claim is not about displacing people now living on any lands subject to it, but rather about consultation and negotiating new deals with major industrial companies operating in the province.

Provincial court documents show that Strescon was dropped from the suit on Oct. 21. There are still 26 defendants that remain, including N.B. Power, Irving Oil, J.D. Irving Ltd. and other forestry companies.

Bernard said there have been expressions of interest from some of the other defendants to settle, but no other agreements have been reached yet. She added that this agreement does not affect any other Irving-owned companies, which would have to resolve their own stakes in the claim.

"It is our hope that this will set an example for other companies to come forward and find out what we can do together as parties to this claim and how we can reconcile," she said. 

Bernard said the point of the lawsuit is "not out to get people," and Strescon "came forward in a positive way."

"We're very open to creative ways of resolving this."

Bernard also said she's looking forward to working with the new Holt government, which made settling the land claim out of court a point in the party's recent provincial election campaign.

"We have meetings lined up to meet with the new cabinet and see if they do put action to their words that they said in their campaign."

This past summer, eight Mi'kmaw communities launched their own title claim, essentially bringing the entire province geographically under the two title claim lawsuits. Elsipogtog First Nation filed its own title claim in 2016.