Murray Sinclair steps down from Robinson-Huron Treaty mediation for health reasons

Former senator Murray Sinclair has stepped down as mediator for negotiations in the Robinson-Huron Treaty annuities case due to health reasons.

Sinclair is also the former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

In an update on Facebook, the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund said they wish him well, and will still move ahead with the negotiations.

The case refers to a treaty signed in 1850 in which the governments of Canada and Ontario promised they would share natural resource wealth with Indigenous peoples in northern Ontario.

The annuity was originally $1.60 per person, and increased once, in 1875, to $4 per person.

The Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund represents 21 First Nations that want the annuity needs to be re-negotiated, and both the Ontario Superior Court and then the Ontario Court of Appeal agreed.

Ontario has appealed the decision.

Earlier in January, a judge agreed to delay the third and final stage of the proceedings until Jan. 30, in case mediation between the parties could settle the matter.