In a statement of claim filed in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, four Saskatchewan rural municipalities wants PFRA land returned to them from the Saskatchewan government.
The rural municipalities of Dundurn, Heart’s Hill, Mount Hope and Reno have asked for the return of the lands. The request has been refused by the government.
During the 1940s, the RMs ceded the ownership of the land to the Saskatchewan government to then allow the federal government to incorporate the land into the creation of PFRA pasture.
The previous federal Conservative government discontinued the PFRA administration and the federal government is in the process of turning over the land to the provincial government, which is not involving the RMs in the new management.
Other rural municipalities may yet file their own claims.
Gregory Thompson, of McKercher LLP, who filed the lawsuit, said there may be a basis for other rural municipalities to follow the four RMs named in the statement of claim.
The next step in the litigation process involves the provincial government filing its defense.
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