Calculating Equitable Compensation: How the Specific Claims Tribunal’s Decision in Day Star Changes the Way We Understand Compensation for Fiduciary Breaches – JFK Law LLP
September 25, 2025
On July 25, 2025, the Specific Claims Tribunal released its decision in Day Star First Nation et al v His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, 2025 SCTC 5 (“Day Star”). Day Star is an important decision as it provides much needed clarity about the principles of equitable compensation for breaches of fiduciary duty in the specific claims context generally and in claims about the mismanagement of First Nations’ funds in particular. The decision reinforces a core legal principle: equitable compensation is about restoring beneficiaries to the position they would have been in if the breach had not occurred. For First Nations, this means that compensation must reflect true lost opportunities – not minimized damages based on narrow or artificial measures.
What is Day Star about?
This claim was brought by four Treaty 4 First Nations in Saskatchewan – Day Star First Nation, Fishing Lake First Nation, George Gordon First Nation and Muskowekwan First Nation.
