Prime Minister Stephen Harper will try to calm agitation for aboriginal protests this summer by announcing today the creation of an independent tribunal to speed the settlement of native land claims.
Harper and Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice are expected to announce the establishment of a long-awaited, quasi-judicial tribunal to resolve a growing backlog of nearly 900 land claims, which are a major irritant for native bands across Canada.
"An independent claims body is going to be huge. It's finally here. It's going to change the whole complexion of the land- claims problem," said Grand Chief Ken Malloway, chairman of the British Columbia specific claims committee, a group of B.C. native bands with unresolved claims against Ottawa.
Malloway, who will be in Ottawa for Harper's announcement, said he attended a meeting in Vancouver on Saturday with Prentice and Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine.
He expects Ottawa to fully adopt the recommendations of a Senate report in December 2006, which called for an independent claims tribunal and new money to speed up settlements.
"The minister told us he intends to implement the report," Malloway said yesterday. "We had a pretty frank discussion. He seemed like he was going to go all the way with it."
Today's announcement is timed to defuse threats of illegal and possibly violent demonstrations on some reserves. The Assembly of First Nations is also calling for a "day of action," including peaceful protest, on June 29.
"That's why the announcement is happening now," said Malloway, "to undercut the day of action."
The most watched demonstration on June 29 will be at the Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation in Manitoba, where Chief Terry Nelson is threatening to blockade a disputed Canadian National railway line that runs past his reserve to the U.S. border.
Yesterday, Nelson applauded Harper for agreeing to reform the land-claims system, but said he could not call off his blockade because of "the simple promise of another white man."
Instead, Nelson sent a letter to Canadian National, offering a five-year "truce" with the company in return for CN's agreement to voluntarily halt trains along the disputed tracks the night of June 29, as well as a CN promise to pressure Ottawa on land claims.
"We're certainly not stepping down our protest," Nelson said. "What we're trying to do is sit down properly and negotiate, before things get out of control."
CN officials, who have so far refused to halt their trains, could not be reached for comment.
What Harper and Prentice want to reform is the specific claims process, which Ottawa established in 1970 in the hopes of finding out-of-court settlements to a rising number of legal claims that the government had breached its historic treaties with First Nations.
So far, more than 1,300 claims have been filed seeking compensation for myriad alleged wrongdoings - from financial fraud by federal Indian agents to territorial disputes.
Some experts estimate the government's liabilities might reach $5 billion.
So far, fewer than 300 claims have been settled, thanks to the painfully slow process of investigating claims and negotiating settlements. Native bands are particularly irked by the fact that for 25 years, Ottawa has acted as defendant, judge and jury to their claims.