Latest news with #SouthBrucePeninsula
CBC
04-07-2025
- CBC
The sign says Saugeen Beach but a Supreme Court of Canada challenge looms in land dispute
Social Sharing The day lawyers submitted paperwork to the Supreme Court of Canada, another group quietly set up ladders in the dead of night to change a sign symbolic in a decades-long legal dispute in an Ontario beach town. The red retro-lettered sign at the end of Main Street in the town of South Bruce Peninsula read "Welcome to Saugeen Beach" when sun seekers woke up on Canada Day this week to look out at Lake Huron. The sign had previously ushered people to "Sauble Beach," a tourist hotspot since the 1920s. Sporting restaurants and cottages, and town and private land are squeezed between two sections of reserve territory belonging to Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation. Where one starts and the other ends is at the heart of what could be a precedent-setting case in Canada. The band declared victory at the end of 2024 when the Ontario Court of Appeal sided with Saugeen First Nation, saying the federal government had breached the treaty it signed in 1854. It ruled that roughly 2.2 kilometres of shoreline land incorrectly surveyed in 1855 should be returned to the First Nation. The federal government recognized the mistake in the 1970s and had supported the First Nation in its claim. But lawyers working for the Town of South Bruce Peninsula and two families who bought lots in the 1940s and '50s are trying via legal avenues, one final time, to keep hold of the land they say they rightfully acquired under the rules and geography of the time. On Monday, they filed an appeal they hope will be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, in an effort to challenge the Appeal Court's decision. "The effect of the rulings at trial and on appeal is to dispossess the town and families of their title, which they acquired lawfully and in good faith," the appeal filing reads. "While none of them were found to have committed any legal wrong against Saugeen, the trial judge found that they must 'bear the brunt' of misconduct committed by the Crown alone." The lawyers argue that the judge's decision may have been well-intentioned, but it sows uncertainty and unpredictability at the core of Canada's system of private landholding. Environmental changes to shoreline Another reason the case may wind its way to Canada's top court has to do with what the land looked like when it was surveyed in 1856, one year after the treaty was signed, compared to what it looks like today. Experts who testified in the lower court agreed that the shoreline of the disputed section is far wider now, as result of receding water levels and the accumulation of sand. It means that the man tasked with drawing the original lines for the treaty 170 years ago that gave the First Nation "about nine miles and a half of Lake Huron coastline" was making his mark on wet sand, and not dry land. Because of how the map was drawn, and how the shoreline has changed, Saugeen argues that what is now dry land is rightfully theirs and that property owners are encroaching on it. The trial and appeal judges both agreed that while the "disputed beach could not be given to Saugeen at the time of the survey because it was submerged in water, it could be declared part of the reserve today." CBC News has reached out to all of the lawyers and the town for comment, but had not received a reply by publication time. The chief of Saugeen First Nation declined to comment on the case. A spokesperson with the Supreme Court of Canada said there is no timeline on when a decision will be made about whether the case will be heard or dismissed.
CTV News
03-07-2025
- CTV News
‘It's still Sauble Beach' - Sauble Beach sign changed to ‘Saugeen Beach' by Indigenous group
Sauble Beach's iconic main street sign has been changed to read 'Saugeen Beach' by members of the Saugeen First Nation, the owners of the beach. July 3, 2025. (Scott Miller/CTV News London) Visitors to Sauble Beach are having a double take today as the iconic sign that greets tourists, which used to say Sauble Beach, was changed Monday night. 'My son showed me the picture he took, and I said, what the heck happened. What is happening here?' said Suzanne, from Hanover, who was seeing the sign change for the first time today. On the eve of Canada Day, members of the Saugeen First Nation changed the sign at the end of the Sauble Beach's main street from 'Welcome to Sauble Beach' to 'Welcome to Saugeen Beach.' 070325 Sauble Beach's iconic main street sign in June 2023. (Scott Miller/CTV News London) 'It's obviously been decades in the making. We've had a lot of struggles. And I feel like finally, we can put our name on it,' said Saugeen First Nation councillor, Cheree Urscheler. Following a nearly 30 year court battle, the Saugeen First Nation had ownership of nearly 2.5 km's of Sauble Beach's valuable sand, returned to them, in April 2023. Following multiple appeals by the previous owners, the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, the decision to return ownership of Sauble's sand to the Saugeen First Nation was upheld in December 2024. A change to Sauble's sign was supposed to happen earlier this summer, but it was decided to hold off until the eve of Canada Day. 'The timing, I think, for me personally, the timing is perfect. It's a statement,' said Saugeen First Nation councillor, Sonya Roote. The sign change caught many off guard, including the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, who didn't know the Sauble sign was coming down and the Saugeen sign was going up until it happened. 'The Sauble Beach sign is a well-known landmark with deep meaning for many people,' says South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Jay Kirkland. 'While we respect Saugeen First Nation's right to make changes on their land, we believe open communication is important, especially when it involves something so symbolic to the broader community. We remain committed to respectful dialogue and working together in the spirit of mutual understanding,' continues Kirkland. While many Sauble Beach visitors CTV News spoke to today hadn't even noticed to sign name change, those that did notice have mixed opinions about it. 'It was disappointing and it was surprising, just because I don't think many people knew that it was coming. And, you know, just to show up on July 1st and see the sign has been changed on the beach, I think a lot of people are just in disbelief,' says Suzanne from Hanover. 'I'm really glad that they did it, because like everyone knows it as Sauble Beach, when it isn't actually, it's Saugeen Beach, and I think people should know that,' said Anouska and her family visiting from Hamilton. 070325 A section of beach formally known as Sauble Beach, now called Saugeen Beach. (Scott Miller/CTV News London The sign change at the beachfront from 'Sauble Beach' to 'Saugeen Beach' is more symbolic than anything, said Saugeen First Nation councillors, Roote and Urscheler. The town itself is still called Sauble Beach, and that's still what will show up on everyone's GPS, when they plan their visit to the sand and waters, clearly owned by the Saugeen First Nation. 'To everybody, it'll still be Sauble Beach. The town is still Sauble Beach. It's just, this part of the beach is Saugeen First Nation. That's all,' says Saugeen First Nation councillor, Lester Anoquot. 'I understand people saying, it's iconic and we grew up with it, I grew up with as Sauble Beach as well. But, it would have been nice to grow up with it being Saugeen Beach the whole time, right? Which it should have been. So I mean, there's a lot of years it was the wrong name put on the beach, so I think, I think it's time,' said Councillor Roote. 'Forever, it's always been Sauble Beach and forever in my mind, it's not. And it was kind of hurtful to see that, and to know that, behind the scenes, we've always been trying to get it back. So to see it now, yeah, my heart is smiling,' said Councillor Urscheler.
CTV News
06-06-2025
- CTV News
One dead after single-vehicle collision in South Bruce Peninsula
OPP cruiser in this undated file image. One person has died after a single-vehicle collision in South Bruce Peninsula early Friday morning. The 18 year old from South Bruce Peninsula died in the hospital from injuries, after a collision on Spring Creek Road to which Grey Bruce OPP responded just after 3 p.m. Another individual involved in the collision remains in the hospital with serious injuries. The road remains closed between Legion Road and Allenford Road as the investigation continues. Drivers are asked to avoid the area and find a different route.
CTV News
06-06-2025
- Automotive
- CTV News
Crash closes Spring Creek Road in South Bruce Peninsula
Spring Creek Road in South Bruce Peninsula closed after serious early-morning crash. Fri., June 6, 2025. File photo An early-morning serious collision has forced the closure of Spring Creek Road in South Bruce Peninsula. Grey Bruce Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a call shortly after 3 a.m. of a single-vehicle collision on Spring Creek Road. Due to the ongoing investigation and the presence of emergency personnel, Spring Creek Road is currently closed between Legion Road and Allenford Road. Police ask motorists to avoid the area and seek alternate routes.
