Not enough Garden River First Nation members voted on a proposed settlement agreement today so the lawsuit settlement was not approved, says Ratification Officer Vaughn Johnston.
The agreement would have seen the community accept an undisclosed amount of money as compensation for a survey error of the Anishinaabe community's western boundary dating back to 1853, resulting in 1,700 acres of land lost.
"The revised voters list had 1,800 eligible voters and 900 eligible voters needed to cast a ballot for a valid vote," Johnston told Sootoday in an email.
Only 863 votes were cast.
Of the votes cast, 796 were yes votes. Just over 453 votes would have had to be in favour of the proposed settlement in order for the settlement to be approved if more than 900 people had voted.
66 ballots were no votes and one ballot was rejected, Johnston said.
"The Settlement Agreement is not approved."
-- With files from James Hopkin