MOHAWK+GRAND RIVER

Gazette No. 56 — Objection to Proposed Amalgamation Study — Brantford and County of Brant

Be it known and placed on record: That the Mohawk Nation of Grand River Secretariat hereby files formal objection to any proposed amalgamation study or amalgamation of the City of Brantford and the County of Brant and notifies all parties contemplating such amalgamation that it may not proceed without prior resolution of the Haldimand constitutional question.

I. The Nemo Dat Principle

Neither the City of Brantford nor the County of Brant can convey to a proposed amalgamated entity a territorial and governmental authority over land that they do not themselves hold free of the Haldimand encumbrance. The nemo dat quod non habet principle is absolute: one cannot give what one does not have.

II. The Constitutional Encumbrance

Both the City of Brantford and the County of Brant are situated within or substantially overlapping the six-mile Haldimand corridor. Any amalgamation of those entities would create a new municipal entity exercising governmental authority over Haldimand Territory without addressing the constitutional encumbrance. This is not constitutionally permissible.

III. The Required Prior Step

Before any amalgamation proceeds, the Crown must resolve the constitutional question raised in the Application for Writ of Mandamus (G63): is there a mechanism to record the Haldimand interest in the land titles system? If there is not, there must be one before any large-scale restructuring of municipal governance within the corridor proceeds.