An Ontario Indigenous community says it’s filing a lawsuit against CN Rail.

The Mattagami First Nation says the suit relates to two derailments that took place near Gogama in 2015.

It says the derailments caused major oil spills into the local environment.

Mattagami alleges the spills were caused by CN’s negligence and are now suing as a result of what they describe as major damage to local waterways.

In a press release, Chief Chad Boissoneau says the impact has been “catastrophic.”

“This is our homeland. Harvesting, hunting and fishing here have always been central to our livelihood and central to who we are,” he said, “Because of the oil spills, many of our people don’t go out on the land anymore. We can’t gather the food we need. We can’t share our knowledge with our young people.”

“It’s devastating.”

It was just two weeks ago that the Transportation Safety Board revealed their findings and recommendations from the second derailment, which occurred March 7th, 2015.

The TSB says a recently repaired rail within a joint broke under the train.

CLICK HERE for our full report from a couple weeks ago.

39 tank cars derailed as a result, spilling about 2.6-million litres of product. Mattagami officials say the spill happened in the heart of their territory, where members harvested, hunted, fished, undertaken spiritual practices and shared traditional knowledge.

Now, they say the water is covered in a slick of oil and the animals and plants in the area are contaminated.

Dr. Faisal Moola, who is the Ontario and Northern Canada Director General for the David Suzuki Foundation, mentions in the release the visit by himself and Dr. David Suzuki last year.

“We saw first hand the significant damage that has been caused to the local watershed as a result of the CN derailments,” he says, “We believe that CN must be held accountable for the damage that they have caused to the health of the environment and ability of Mattagami First Nation members to safely harvest fish and other local foods, without threats to their health and well-being from oil contamination.”

Mattagami is seeking monetary damages in the lawsuit, “for the harms caused to their Aboriginal and treaty rights to harvest, hunt, fish and share knowledge out on the land.”

The First Nation argues these rights are property rights in Canadian law, and that Mattagami First Nation members are entitled to use and enjoy their property rights free from unreasonable or unlawful interference by CN Railway.

“The oil spills have compromised their rights,” they add.

“We want justice for our land and for our people,” said Chief Boissoneau, “It’s not right that CN Railway should be allowed to ignore safety measures and dump oil into our homeland.”

“We’re the ones who have to live with the damage.”

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