Quebec Innu win latest court battle against IOC, Newfoundland and Labrador

Innu groups have won the latest court battle in theirland-claims fight against Iron Ore Co. of Canada, a railway company, and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Innu are seeking $900 million in all against Iron Ore, theQuebec North Shore and Labrador Railway Co. Inc., and Newfoundlandand Labrador.

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The parties are involved in various mining and infrastructureprojects on land in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador claimed bythe Innu.

The three entities were hoping to remove the portion of IronOre's operations in Labrador from the Innu's lawsuit.

But Quebec Superior Court Justice Thomas M. Davis ruledWednesdaythat laws governing ancestral rights apply everywhere in Canada.

An Innu leader welcomed the decision.

"Rio Tinto and its IOC subsidiary are once again using everymeans to slow down the legal process with the aim of postponing theactual hearing on the merits of the case," Mike McKenzie, chief ofUashat mak Mani-utenam, said in a statement.

"This is our fourth victory in this case and we're especiallypleased that a judgment has finally demonstrated that our rights toour traditional territory, our Nitassinan, do not end atCanadian-imposed borders."