Ballantyne band backs out of land deal

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Saskatchewan's Peter Ballantyne band has decided not to join the province's multi-million dollar umbrella land deal even though it is entitled to one of the largest settlements in the package.

Band members narrowly defeated a $62-million offer to buy land and mineral rights in a referendum that would have seen the community join the province-wide agreement.

Ballantyne chief Ron Michel said the latest set of difficulties rising out of the band's long-standing resistance to the agreement won't hurt a settlement in the long run.

"It's going to come down to a debate," Michel said after his community rejected the largest offer with just over 50 per cent of voters saying no to the deal. "Most of the councillors are in Pelican Narrows now and we'll decide what to do...I have some options I would like to present."

But Roland Crowe, chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations,

said the Ballantyne band could lose out on money and land if they continue to hold out.

"There will be no change in the agreement," he said. "Other bands will begin proceeding and land will be given on a first-come-first-serve basis."

The overall $450-million agreement was signed by 24 of the province's 26 bands

in September after lengthy negotiations with the federal and provincial governments.

Four days before the signing Ballantyne band councillors demanded Michel hold off signing until community members were given more time to study the package. The Peter Ballantyne band is entitled to more than 230,000 acres of land under the umbrella government.