Page 5 Chatter - March

THE TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL REPORTS
that two reserves in New Brunswick are negotiating land claims that will result in the largest settlements ever paid out to First Nations in Atlantic Canada. Compensation could be in the tens of millions for both Tobique First Nation and Metepenagiag First Nation. Tobique is negotiating a claim for about 3,300 acres of land surrendered in 1892. Metepenagiag is seeking compensation for 1,335 hectares of land surrendered in 1895. Together, the settlements may exceed the amount of compensation the federal government has paid out in over three decades of Native land claim settlements in New Brunswick, which is roughly $20 million to date.

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THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA
will hear the landmark fishing-rights case of the Lax Kw’alaams band. The case could have wide-ranging implications for Aboriginal fisheries and treaty negotiations in BC. “This is the first time that a civil claim started by the First Nation seeking declaration in respect to commercial fishing rights will go all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada,” said Keith Bergner, a partner at the Vancouver firm Lawson Lundell and specialist in Aboriginal law, reported the Vancouver Sun. The court will decide the extent of Aboriginal fishing rights and what the process is for proving those rights, Bergner said. According to Bergner, the results of this case could have an effect on other B.C. First Nations with similar cases pending. Treaty negotiation will also be given a boost.

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PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE
is exploding in First Nation communities in northwestern Ontario, reports Global TV. Native leaders say 55 to 60 per cent of residents may be addicted. OxyContin pills started arriving in the communities over the last four years, but now there is so much of the drug addiction seems to be eclipsing alcoholism and gas sniffing. “This is different—and it’s worse,” said Donnie Morris, chief of the 1,200 member Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (K.I.) First Nation. “It cripples families. It’s crippling communities. And the leadership just doesn’t know how to deal with it.” Most of the reserves affected are isolated, only accessible by air, or by ice roads. OxyContin pills are sold for $400 each, which is four times the street price in southern communities.

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THE COHEN COMMISSION ON
Fraser River sockeye will have another year to complete its work, and the head of the BC Treaty Commission says the federal government should pay for the delay. Sophie Pierre, chief commissioner for the BC Treaty Commission, said treaty negotiations with at least seven First Nations are being held in limbo, their debts mounting, awaiting a verdict from the inquiry. “The Cohen inquiry should not continue to be used as an excuse not to get on with business at the treaty table,” she said. First Nations in the final stages of treaty negotiations cannot move forward on their fisheries chapters and the delay may mean a cost of some $30 million in treaty debt accrued by the nations to pay for negotiations. Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed the Cohen commission to investigate what happened to the salmon run on the Fraser River in 2009 when only one million sockeye of an expected 10 million salmon returned. Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, deferred negotiating fisheries issues at treaty tables until the Cohen commission’s reports is released. The Cohen report was due by May 1, but has been pushed back to June 2012.

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THE CANADIAN NUCLEAR SAFETY
Commission is “ignoring the rule of law” by approving a nuclear waste shipment through the Great Lakes, says the Anishinabek Nation. The Supreme Court has stipulated that First Nations must be consulted when such shipments are made, said Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee, and First Nations must be accommodated on activities that could have an impact on their traditional territories. On Feb. 4 the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission authorized Bruce Power to transport 16 decommissioned steam generators from southwestern Ontario to Sweden for recycling. The commission is satisfied that the Bruce Power application meets Canadian and international regulations for the transport of nuclear substances. Madahbee, speaking for 39 member communities, said Anishinabek First Nation communities occupy all of the Great Lakes shoreline and a significant part of its basin.