Canada Supreme Court dismisses Indigenous appeal and paves way for McGill construction – Jurist

January 17, 2025

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an appeal led by Indigenous elders who claimed that an under-renovation McGill University building contains Indigenous burial grounds.

The Supreme Court’s rejection effectively permits McGill’s renovation of the building, which previously served as a psychiatric teaching hospital, to commence.

The case arose after Historic Human Remains Detection Dogs discovered the scent of human remains on the site in 2023. Radio-Canada reported a subsequent “increase in hostilities” between the Indigenous elders, known as the Kahnistensera, and the parties leading the construction, and the Kahnistensera brought the case to court. The Kahnistensera claimed that the land not only holds ancient Indigenous graves but also the potential unmarked graves of Indigenous patients, including children, who allegedly died from MK-Ultra psychiatric experiments by the CIA on the site. The Kahnistensera emphasized that Indigenous-led investigations into the former hospital were vital to ensuring justice.

Read More: https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/01/canada-supreme-court-dismisses-indigenous-appeal-and-paves-way-for-mcgill-construction/