![]() |
Land claim negotiations languish By Brian Back POSTED: MAY 21, 2009
Has
anyone noticed the
land-claim negotiations drifted over the
horizon and didn’t come back?
They
were suspended in August by the newly elected Chief and Council, led by
Chief Gary Potts, of the
Temagami First Nation.
Normally, one side of a negotiating table stands up, glares at its
opposite and storms out. This time half of one side stood up, glared at
family, and stormed out. The other side — Ontario and Canada — was
left rubbing its eyes.
John McKenzie,
chief of the Teme-Augama Anishnabai, the TFN’s negotiating partner, was
shocked when he received a memo on August 15 from Potts notifying him of the
halt. It said “any previous working Agreements between the TAA and TFN
Chiefs and Councils” are suspended until
the community has reviewed and considered the "TAA Executive Council status and how it affects the TFN
community and their chiefs and councils regarding land and land use
negotiations concerning our motherland (Daki Menan).”
The memo
provided no schedule or reason for the review. Potts would not
comment for this story.
As all
negotiation agreements were joint, it effectively halted negotiations just
as the Draft Settlement Agreement was being finalized. There had been no
advance discussion with McKenzie, the TAA’s Executive Council or in a
combined meeting of the two councils, which jointly direct negotiations.*
Now, the
fate of the negotiations will be determined by an impending court ruling on
the
controversial election,
which brought Gary
Potts back as chief after a 13-year absence from office. The decision could
replace the Potts-led council with the pro-negotiation council of Chief Roxane Ayotte, elected in a re-run.
The
court may rule for Potts' election, Ayotte's election or a new one. In the
latter case, it is expected to go to Ayotte because of the overwhelming
support shown her at recent assemblies, the impeachment of Potts and the
election re-run. The court will not render a decision until after the close
of mediation, underway today and tomorrow, on Bear Island.
The TFN
constitution, a
Chief
and Council probably could not directly suspend negotiations, so it
suspended the joint agreements — which had the same effect. But that action,
too, according to the constitution, required assembly approval. It did not
have it.
Although
little was said during the election about suspending negotiations, it was
widely understood on the reserve that this was the platform of the chief and
second chief, Second Chief Peter McKenzie said.
The
March suspension resolution (both are similar) said the review process would
include “taking the time necessary to share our understanding of who we are;
reconnect with Daki Menan; address our governance issues, including
citizenship; understand the impact of the Robinson Huron Treaty from the
signatories perspective; foster an understanding of the court process and
its impacts; and development of a community vision with one voice.”
Ayotte
thought these were valuable ideas, but saw a disconnect. “I don’t understand
why we have to shut down negotiations to do all those.”
“Our
time has come to re-unit as a People,” the resolution read. Ironically, the
suspension may have done the opposite. It was carried out unilaterally by
the smaller TFN, excluding the nation as a whole.
Tribe united
Two
groups represent the aboriginal community: Temagami First Nation and
Teme-Augama Anishnabai. The 653-member TFN represents status Indians,
defined by the Indian Act, who are also band members. The 1,200-member TAA
represents the entire Temagami tribe, which includes the TFN members and
non-status Indians — also known as Metis, lost their status, or their
forebears did, under Indian Act rules. Until 1992, the TAA was the sole
aboriginal negotiator.
Teme-Augama Anishnabai is the traditional name for the tribe, in use when
non-aboriginals arrived on their land. In 1907 the Canadian government,
flexing the Indian Act, created the Temagami Indian Band. It made a list of
the members, excluding some, and anyone not on it was neither an Indian nor
part of the band. A bureaucrat now knew better who was a “citizen.”
Over the
years others lost their status, their nationality.
"My aunt
[Rita O'Sullivan] next door was considered non-status and my mother [Laura
McKenzie], her sister, was status," said John McKenzie. "That made no sense
to me.
(She
regained her status after the 1985 revocation of the Indian Act clause that
took it.)
In an
act of defiance, Potts, as a young chief, led his people to take back from
Ottawa the right to decide their citizenship, the most basic lever of
self-determination.
“The
Metis were all organized and they knew who they were and we knew who we
were," said McKenzie. "It’s just that one was called non-status and one
status. We decided if we are going to court [over the land claim], we are
going as one people.”
In 1975,
a resolution passed in the tribal assembly calling back together the Deep
Water Nation and the creation of an organization for all descendants of the
traditional families. They called it the Teme-Augama Anishnabai.
Tribe undermined
The
suspension of negotiations, particularly in a manner that leaves the
appearance of internal squabbling, can only weaken the TFN's hand with
Ontario. The province is the key player as these negotiations are primarily about
land, and it is the landlord.
It is
the fourth settlement round — 1980-82, 1986-87, 1990-94, and 1999-2008.
Memories are still vivid of the internal aboriginal acrimony in 1994 that
resulted in the settlement’s rejection. Ontario watched
taxpayer dollars walk out the door with each effort. How much will
government invest in negotiations or the settlement if it is wary that the
aboriginal community will ever sign? Or even stay to talk?
There is
concern among some members that the influence of local interests over
Ontario and Canada is rising. A park on reserve lands on the shoreline of
Lake Temagami was added to the settlement agreement. Locals wanted it to
protect the shoreline from aboriginal development.
The
settlement will inject economic development funding. That, now, is
postponed.
The land
claim has been a dark cloud for everyone in Temagami, particularly on Lake
Temagami. They have been waiting since 1973 for clear skies.
Potts
continues to file the minimum paperwork. Negotiations aren’t dead.
* The
halt also
created its own legal crisis. Back in 1989, the TFN-TAA did not have the
money to pay its lawyers for the land-claim appeal. Borden & Elliott went to court in 1996 to collect $1.1
million. Finally, in 2003, the court judgment made the money payable out of
settlement funds.
When the
council halted talks, the bill came due. Borden tried to garnishee the
funds that the band receives from Casino Rama revenue sharing. (The bulk of
the band’s $7-million budget is ungarnishee-able government funds.) Since 2000, the TFN
has received over $3.5 million. Back in court, the judge ruled on April 7
that the Indian Act protected the money, despite coming from Rama, and it
could not be garnished. Borden has appealed.
|
|
|
|
|
|