Saskatchewan settling land claims

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A $431-million land claim deal in Saskatchewan is almost complete and is now down to a set of federal-provincial negotiations to hammer out a time frame for paying compensation to the bands.

Dan Bellegarde, first vice-chief with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, said agreement has been reached in almost all major areas of the deal.

And Saskatchewan chiefs are calling on Ottawa and the province to have a

signed agreement in place by the first week of June.

"Every day that passes with the deal not concluded is another day of missed opportunities," Bellegarde said.

Ottawa and Saskatchewan agreed last year to share the cost of settling 27 outstanding land entitlements that date back more than 100 years. Under the deal, Saskatchewan has agreed to pay 30 per cent of the settlement and a further 19 per

cent of the cost from revenue generated by anticipated economic development.

The money was originally scheduled to be paid out over 15 years. But the province is now pressing to have that period shortened to 10 years.

The federation has been negotiating the land entitlement deal since last year.

It had been hoped a settlement would have been reached by now, but talks bogged

down after Saskatchewan elected a new government in October.

Officials blamed the delay on shortcomings in the old government's agreement

and said the new government needed to go over the terms of the deal in detail.

The talks resumed in March after a three-month delay.