Question Period Note: Nehirowisiw Aski Associationand Quebec and Canada title claim litigation

N.A.

• We are aware of the lawsuit filed on February 18, 2026 by the Nehirowisiw Aski Association in the Superior Court of Quebec which relates to a title claim in Mauricie.
• A copy of the statement of claim has been shared with the Government of Canada.
• The claim is at a very preliminary stage and is currently under review.

The applicants who include the Nehirowisiw Aski Territorial Guardians Association—which is composed of the traditional hereditary chiefs from the Mauricie, Lanaudière, and Saguenay–Lac Saint Jean regions—and Indigenous members from these regions, have filed a motion before the Superior Court of Québec seeking a declaration of Aboriginal title and rights in the Mauricie region of Québec.
The application asks the Court to declare that the applicants are the legitimate representatives of the historic Nehirowisiw collective and that they are beneficiaries of the ancestral and treaty rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The applicants also request that the Court declare that they hold Aboriginal title, including the right to benefit from the economic advantages arising from it, over the territories located in Wemotaci, Lac Flamand, and Manawan. They further allege that Canada and Québec have breached the honour of the Crown by authorizing or encouraging forestry operations and resource extraction on the claimed territories without obtaining the applicants’ consent.
The litigation is at a very early stage and is currently under review.

If pressed on concerns of private landholders
• As this claim is at a very preliminary stage it is not yet clear whether or how private landholder interests may be engaged.
• In all Aboriginal title litigation, the Government of Canada is committed to maintaining legal clarity and stability in land ownership while respecting Aboriginal rights and title, and the Court process.