Appeal Court Supports Province

Ontario's highest court has ruled that the province has the right to "take up'' treaty land for mining and forestry.

The Grassy Narrows First Nation, north of Kenora, challenged Ontario's right to permit industrial logging on its traditional lands, saying it infringed on their hunting and trapping rights under a treaty they signed in 1873.

But The Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled yesterday the province doesn't need the federal government's approval to ``take up'' the lands - a decision that overturns a lower-court ruling.