Liberals to pay the bills for talks on treaties
OTTAWA • After years of arguing that it’s unfair to make First Nations pay to negotiate rights to land that was originally theirs, Indigenous groups and treaty lawyers are applauding the federal government’s decision to start footing the bill for Indigenous participation in treaty negotiations.
The new federal budget doesn’t attach a price tag to the commitment, or a second promise to consider forgiving past and present negotiation loans. But existing reports suggest the changes could cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars.
Since the beginning of modern treaty negotiations in 1973, the federal government has signed 26 comprehensive land claims with Indigenous groups, mainly in northern Canada, British Columbia and Quebec. Currently, about 100 land claim and self-government negotiations are ongoing.
In the budget tabled by Finance Minister Bill Morneau Tuesday, the government committed to scrapping the existing system of issuing loans to Indigenous groups to help them participate in treaty negotiations. Instead, Ottawa will now cover their costs outright. The budget did not indicate how much this is expected to cost, but a 2013 government audit found the average loan for each active land claim was about $10 million.
Cheryl Casimer, a member of the political executive of B.C.’s First Nations Summit, said the commitment will have a “huge impact” on First Nations that sometimes spend decades at the negotiating table.
“We’ve always come to the table saying that we need to address this, saying that First Nations should not have to borrow money … to negotiate land back that is rightfully theirs,” she said.
Casimer said her First Nation, the Ktunaxa First Nation, has been negotiating for 20 years and is facing loans of about $20 million. She said the loan system was designed when everyone expected treaties might take a couple of years to finalize. “Little did anybody know that it was going to take decades,” she said.
Nancy Kleer, a Torontobased legal counsel for treaty negotiations, said the decision is an “excellent step forward,” but added that the government must now also forgive existing loans.
“If it’s going to happen for the First Nations going forward, it should certainly happen for the Indigenous groups going back as well,” she said.