Vice-chief hopeful

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The last hurdle may have been cleared to changing the way outstanding land claims are settled in Canada.

Lawrence Joseph, vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, said meetings in December between the Chiefs' National Committee on Claims and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs has produced a consensus on how to move ahead with a new commission and tribunal to address historic land claims.

The key will be a five-year assessment period for the new process with a settlement cap in place to control government fiscal expenditures. Joseph said it was the potential for the newly created independent body to make large awards that was scaring Ottawa away from implementing the new system. As were the large claims coming out of British Columbia.

"Basically, the biggest problem was the budget item," Joseph said. "Those figures from mega-claims scared them off."

While he said the settlement cap for the initial five-year period is still in negotiation, it should eliminate any further delays.

"What they wanted was some control," Joseph said. "We gave them the tool."

Joseph said the chiefs met with Scott Serson, deputy minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, on Dec. 7 and agreed on the concept of a settlement cap. The chiefs then ratified the draft legislation to create the commission and tribunal on Dec. 8.

After more than 18 months of negotiations between First Nations and Ottawa, Joseph said he now expects the draft legislation to be submitted to cabinet, and hopes something will be in place by April 1.

The need for a new land claims resolution process stems from the growing backlog of unresolved cases - some 400 nationwide and 200 from Saskatchewan - and the inherent unfairness of the old process, Joseph said.

He likened the current process to going to court and finding out the defendant is also the judge and jury.

"That's literally the situation right now," he said. "It's no longer acceptable. It never was."

The major benefit of the proposed independent commission and tribunal would be the removal of the government from its position of conflict of interest, Joseph said. The claims would be looked at fairly and equitably by appointees from both the government and First Nations on the commission, and the backlog of cases will be cleared away.

When negotiations at the commission level fail to produce results, the tribunal would have the power to make decisions that would be binding on both the First Nations and Canada.

Joseph noted some of the outstanding claims are 125 years old.

"Our preference is not to go to court, but to go to the commission and tribunal to save the Canadian taxpayer the money to go to court," he said.

The money First Nations win in settlement decisions will be used to improve the economic condition of Indian people, Joseph said. Land would be bought to create more economic development opportunities and make bands more self-sustainable. He said in the long run, the settlements will be economically beneficial to the entire country.

"The sooner these things are settled, the cheaper it will be," he said. "This effort is not intended to create the picture that we are beggars. We want to develop economic structures for the people."

The government's own information shows how important that economic development is for First Nations.

Press releases marking the anniversary of Gathering Strength - Canada's Aboriginal Action Plan, both tout the process set up to create an independent claims body, and make reference to conditions faced by Aboriginal people.

It also confirms that, at 29 per cent, the unemployment rate on reserves is nearly three times the national average while the First Nations population is growing approximately twice as fast as the overall Canadian population.

"If we don't do something, what's happening now will prevail," Joseph said.