Harper figures on plans to speed land claim cases

Tue, June 12, 2007

The plan to streamline a discredited system that now takes an average 13 years aims to defuse native anger.

By SUE BAILEY, CP - Posted London Free Press

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to announce plans to speed land claims as native groups prepare for a potentially tense day of action June 29.

Sources say Harper will propose today a bill to streamline the settlement process -- a discredited system that now takes an average of 13 years.

But real results could be months away if they come at all.

The legislation, to be co-written with the national Assembly of First Nations, won't be introduced in the Commons until the fall. It would have to pass a fractious and unstable Parliament before committing any new money for specific land claims research or compensation.

Harper is also expected to support giving more power to the Indian Claims Commission which investigates treaty violations, but can't make binding rulings.

And native leaders will be watching to what extent the bill may cap settlement amounts or impose deadlines for filing claims.

Critics have long called for a truly independent land claims process with more money and staff to settle cases.

Ottawa has until now acted as defendant, judge and jury in disputes that have over-stretched bureaucratic and native resources.

Native frustration has flared over the last year, prompting fiery barricades and sometimes ugly conflict.

Demonstrations, including rail blockades, are planned June 29 by leaders who have taken a wait-and-see attitude toward federal promises of action.

The federal government has itself estimated it owes First Nations billions of dollars for breached or unfulfilled treaties.

"Deferring payment of this liability, while land development continues and interest compounds, can only increase the ultimate financial cost of settlements," Michael Coyle, a law professor at University of Western Ontario, testified last fall before a Senate committee studying the process.

Harper should support an independent body that can enforce timelines in often protracted negotiations, Coyle said yesterday in an interview.

That arm's-length arbiter must also be able to legally rule on impasses arising over the validity of a claim or how much is owed.

"I'm pleased they're going to be working with the Assembly of First Nations," Coyle added.

"It will have a much better chance of succeeding if First Nations have had a real role to play in developing the process."

Basic funding for settlements is set at about $159 million this fiscal year.

An exhaustive Senate committee report this year urged the Conservatives to commit at least $250 million annually.

The alternative, it warned, is the eruption of more nasty clashes like the one that pitted natives against non-natives in Caledonia last year over a housing development.

Frustration is once again building in the Southwestern Ontario community as complex talks drag on.