June 12, 2007
OTTAWA–The federal government will seek to ease growing tensions with Indians by announcing plans today to streamline the long-stalled land-claims process.
The Indian Claims Commission (ICC) is to get the power to make independent rulings that are binding on Ottawa, federal sources confirmed yesterday.
The announcement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper will come three weeks before a potentially disruptive "Day of Action" by Indians across Canada June 29.
The Conservative plan, which will be subject to several months of discussion with aboriginal leaders before legislation is debated in Parliament, is in keeping with a position taken by Harper when he was opposition leader.
"This is about creating an independent tribunal so the government isn't both the jury and the defendant," said a government official.
Harper's announcement comes as Indians prepare for a day of protest over the slow pace of settlements, which take an average of 13 years. Ontario has already seen troubling disruptions in Caledonia and in Kingston, where Via Rail service was halted in April.
And it has only been a few weeks since a judge said that lack of action on land claims contributed to situation that led to the shooting death of protester Dudley George.
Against this backdrop, Indian leaders are threatening a summer of blocked roads and rail lines to express their frustrations over enduring poverty, lack of opportunity and the sluggish claims process.
Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice has expressed serious concerns about the "Day of Action" slated for June 29.
A source said the government's legislation will follow closely the recommendations set out in a recent Senate committee report on land claims that called for faster resolution of cases and more funding.
There are currently about 800 unresolved land claims.
The senators called for $250 million each year to be dedicated to settling land disputes. It also suggested the government give more independence to the claims commission to adjudicate the cases.
Prentice, a former land-claims negotiator, has previously suggested that he preferred allowing the commission, which currently can only investigate issues surrounding land claims, the power to make official rulings that are binding on Ottawa.
The federal government now has the final say on such cases, cited by the report as a conflict of interest.
Sources say that Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine will also appear at the news conference with Harper today, which may be intended as a message to Indians not to strike a militant pose later this month.
Prentice, in a signed article published yesterday, urged Indian groups to respect the law or risk losing goodwill they may have built up for their cause across the country.