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PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

BY EMAIL

September 12, 2023

The Hon. Harry LaForme
Office of Mizhinawe

Dear Hon. Harry LaForme:

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Re: Office of Mizhinawe

We are in receipt of your letter, dated September 9, 2023. We do not intend to address all the contents of your letter as doing so would be counter-productive to the intentions of the Litigation Management Committee (LMC) and the Robinson Huron Treaty Chiefs-in-Assembly. We will however provide some overview remarks and address your comments regarding the outcome of the meeting on September1, 2023; and then we will address your resignation from the Office of Mizhinawe September 9, 2023, which we accept.

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Overview Remarks

Your letter of September 9, 2023, is extremely negative, and that is the main problem the Chiefs and Trustees had with your Interim Report. It is too negative. Sure, there were concerns expressed in the community sessions, but overall, the sessions went well, and the comments were positive. As you yourself indicated, the first few sessions were a little rough, but as we progressed the sessions went more smoothly, and community members were very appreciative. The overly negative tone in your Interim Report is one of the main reasons the Chiefs and Trustees decided to discontinue your role and dissolve the Office of Mizhinawe.

We want to state that it is incorrect for you to say that your Interim Report is not being used as an “opportunity to course correct at this crucial juncture in the engagement process”. In fact, the Chiefs found the community sessions very useful and, particularly with the collaboration of the LMC and the Legal Team, we were together able to communicate some very complicated legal information in a very short timeframe to 21 communities. Your Interim Report identified some issues for next steps, including communications and overcoming issues of confidentiality, and these have been or are going to be acted upon by the RHTLF and the Chiefs going forward.

One of the most important outcomes of the Mizhinawe process, as you indicated in your meetings with us and with the negotiators for Ontario and Canada, despite the issues, is that there is a broad consensus in the communities that the proposed settlement agreement is acceptable, and the parties should proceed to sign it. What you identified as issues in your Interim Report relate to implementation of the settlement agreement and next steps in the engagement process.

It is with regard to the next steps in the engagement process that the Chiefs and Trustees felt some changes are needed regarding your role. One of the issues that has come to light is that you are in a conflict of interest. Your firm has been retained to provide independent legal advice on the proposed settlement agreement and that is problematic for your continuation in the Office of Mizhinawe. It would have been appropriate for you to make this disclosure to us beforehand, so we could discuss it and agree on a way forward.

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September 1, 2023, Meeting of the RHT Chiefs and Trustees

It is disappointing to the LMC that you make comments regarding the September 1, 2023, meeting without being present during those proceedings. It is clear that you formulated a very negative view of the event based on hearsay. However, the overwhelming majority in attendance had a very productive and positive meeting. The analogy to organized crime with respect to the August 31 and September 1, 2023, meeting is highly inappropriate. These meetings were in-camera without members of the public and should not be commented on by individuals, especially a retired judge, who was not a witness to the proceedings.

On September 1, 2023, your report was considered by the Trustees and the RHT Chiefs-in-Assembly. As noted above, the vast majority of Chiefs did not find your report reflected what occurred in their own community sessions. We acknowledge there were issues with communications, but even prior to your report, this was corrected -- communications and materials were amended to reflect the most accurate and up to date information and the current timelines.

As the overwhelming majority of the Chiefs noted on September 1st, the overall sense in the communities is that that members were pleased to be receiving reliable information, pleased with finally settling the annuities litigation, and were hungry for further engagement from their own leadership about the use of funds at the community level and per capita distributions. In the sessions that did have tense moments, the tension eased by the end of the evening and people were still talking with each other, sharing laughs, and engaging with the community leadership and other members.

Your letter referred to the Treaty Gathering on September 9th as a façade. That is not correct. It was a major milestone and beautiful ceremony of the Robinson Huron Treaty consistent with Anishinaabe protocols and laws. There were over 1000 beneficiaries in-person and many more on livestream. We were there to celebrate the 173rd Anniversary of the Treaty and at the same time, we were able to acknowledge our Ancestors and engage in a sacred Pipe Ceremony, which is a vital aspect of the approval process for the settlement agreement under Anishinaabe law. The Chiefs participated in this Ceremony along with Minister Rickford and Minister Anandasangaree. Our community members and beneficiaries also participated and were overjoyed by the opportunity.

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Your Resignation

It was clear to the leadership that their members wanted to hear from them and to have further engagement sessions focused on the community level. Some of our communities have already been having these follow-up sessions on their own. For this reason, at the September 1st Chiefs and Trustees meeting, the Chiefs felt the Office of Mizhinawe was no longer required. The Office of Mizhinawe completed the aspects required of it under the terms of the Settlement Agreement and the Chiefs felt that further engagement with beneficiaries could be done at the community level. A motion was tabled and passed in accordance with the Trust Indenture to dissolve the Office of Mizhinawe and continue the work at the local level.

Because the Office of Mizhinawe was brought into the Robinson Huron Treaty process through ceremony, it was felt that notifying you of the Chiefs decision to dissolve the Office required the guidance of Elders and Knowledge Keepers. For this reason, the LMC could not immediately reach out to you to inform you of the outcome of September 1, 2023. The advice we received was to wait until after our historic Treaty Gathering on September 7-9th to notify you. We were also instructed to share this information with kindness and respect. For this reason, we will not address the other aspects of your letter.

Again, we accept your resignation based on the decision and direction by the Chiefs and Trustees. Our communities have requested all of the materials and data gathered as part of the information sessions, so they can continue the community sessions on their own as self-determining nations. We are pleased that you will work with us on a transition plan to retrieve this information and any other work-in-progress.

Should you wish to schedule a transition meeting in the coming days, we would be happy to set something up.

Miigwetch,

Mike Restoule
Chair

Cc:
Litigation Management Committee (LMC)
RHTLF Trustees and RHT Chiefs
Legal Team

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