Click below to watch Batchawana First Nation Chief Dean Sayers read a statement following Tuesday’s ruling at the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse:

The judge finally ruled on Tuesday regarding access to Gargantua Harbour. About 20 people were in the courtroom to hear the decision at the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse. 20 of the 22 counts against Batchawana First Nation and its Chief Dean Sayers were dismissed — they were convicted on charges of obstruction of an officer. The band itself has been fined 10-thousand dollars while Chief Sayers received a suspended sentence. Stacy Terita is the lawyer who represented Sayers and is a Batchawana First Nation member. He gave a mixed reaction to the judge’s decision…

In a written statement, Chief Sayers echoed those comments and described the decision as a small victory for Batchawana and all First Nations. He added that preventing First Nations from accessing their territory is unacceptable. The judge also ruled that there was insufficient evidence regarding several counts including building a water crossing without a permit. But the judge convicted both parties on obstructing an officer as it related to a ‘threat’ to bring guns in late September 2007. Lawyer Jennifer Tremblay-Hall represented Sayers and the First Nation and says they were reacting in the heat of the moment as MNR officers are always armed…

The treaty being referred to is the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850. Tremblay-Hall says the most important thing to take from the judge’s ruling is that a court has finally has recognized that the Batchawana First Nation has a very vast territory. The First Nation also has rights that it can access in that same territory, meaning that a government body can not abitrarily restrict that access and those rights. Chief Sayers was satisfied with the judge’s ruling, but there are plans to appeal the outstanding charges. He says in the future the province will have to ‘roll up its sleeves’ to strengthen their relationship to work to avoid future situations like this one…

Tremblay-Hall described Tuesday’s ruling as a ‘beginning’, adding there will be a goal to build on a relationship between it and the Ontario government. She agrees with Chief Sayers that it is a matter of the province’s attitude on how soon it wants to head to the negotiating table.