TORONTO - A remote First Nations community in northern Ontario has been forced to abandon its legal fight with the province and the mining company Platinex because it's broke.
Spokesman John Cutfeet of the Kitchenuhmayboosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation says the band has spent $700,000 on legal fees so far and simply can't afford to keep going.
The band is fighting to be consulted before Platinex drills exploratory holes in the area around Big Trout Lake, about 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont.
Cutfeet says the province should help fund the band's legal efforts, but instead is driving up costs by introducing motions that the community's lawyers say are frivolous.
He says based on the actions of the Crown in this case, any company with deep pockets can wait for a First Nations community to go bankrupt and then get the access to lands they desire.
NDP Leader Howard Hampton agrees and says the government has an obligation to at least subsidizes the band's legal battle.
Cutfeet says the community is being penalized for being poor, which he calls a denial of justice.
