First Nations sue federal government — economic, cultural losses cited in lawsuit

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This article was published 05/07/2022 (1162 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rolling River First Nation, located south of Riding Mountain National Park, is part of a group of 14 other First Nations that has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, citing economic and cultural losses for violation of Treaty Land Entitlement promises.

On June 29, just two days before Canada Day, the Treaty Land Entitlement Committee (TLEC) of Manitoba filed a statement of claim in federal court against the Canadian government for its alleged ongoing violations of the 1997 Manitoba Framework Agreement (MFA) on Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE).

The lawsuit came as National Indigenous History Month was winding down and also coincided with the 25th anniversary of the signing of the MFA on May 29, 1997, by the TLEC, Canada and the Province of Manitoba.

Originally intended to provide 1.1 million acres of additional reserve land throughout Manitoba to the TLEC’s First Nations, the committee said delays and unilateral changes by Canada mean this hasn’t happened.

In 2018, a binding arbitration decision ruled that Canada had breached the MFA by altering its reserve creation process, a violation that continued and, according to Chris Henderson, executive director of the TLEC of Manitoba, eventually brought about TLEC’s decision to go to federal court in 2019. In 2021, the court upheld a binding arbitration award.

In the new claim announced last week, the TLEC alleges that the federal government is liable for all losses resulting from its failure to honour the treaty land entitlements in a diligent, timely and purposeful manner. The committee asserts that 25 years after the MFA’s signing, a little more than 565,000 acres have been set aside as reserved land by the federal government for the 15 First Nations that signed their individual TLE agreements under the MFA.

Henderson said Canada continues to be in breach of their agreement with the First Nations because the communities haven’t yet consented to the changes that the federal government made. He asserted that the government’s intentions were honourable in 1997 when the agreement was first signed, but that they didn’t understand the scope of work they agreed to take on.

“I don’t think [the government] fully appreciated the amount of work and effort it would take to fully implement such a significant land claim settlement agreement.”

Henderson said it’s important that all Canadians are aware of the government’s alleged breach of the agreement, which was why the June 29 date to file the lawsuit was significant.

Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said he understands the frustration that the First Nation communities involved in the agreement are feeling. What was intended, years ago, to be an orderly process has turned out to be one that Miller called “long and frustrating.”

Miller noted that part of the challenge is due to the evolution of Canadian law regarding the concerns of Indigenous people that’s guided by Supreme Court judgments, and how important it is going forward to be in direct consultation with the First Nation communities.

The court case originally began when Miller was still minister of Indigenous Services. Back then, he said the government chose not to appeal the federal court’s judgment, but instead wanted to focus on going back to the negotiation table and find out the best way to move forward, which included talks of financial compensation.

The COVID-19 pandemic also caused some delays in the process, but Miller doesn’t want to use that as an excuse.

“That isn’t something we want to rest on as any particular indication of how we intend to behave in the future. I want to see this sorted out in the right way, in the face of the appeal that found Canada default in its obligations. We want to rectify that.”

Miller said he understands the skepticism coming from the TLEC and its member First Nations, but attests that he’s committed to doing the work to ensure everything is settled to a satisfactory level. What he doesn’t want, he explained, is for Canada to continue its history of denying Indigenous communities the right to go to court and sue the federal government.

“I would rather have this settled outside the courtroom, but I’m not going to dictate to Indigenous Peoples how they should behave according to their rights.”

For it to be settled outside of the courtroom, as Miller is hoping it will be, would mean that Canada has to come to the table with an offer that would show the government’s good faith and willingness to move forward. Though he said the government isn’t in a position to do this at the moment, he hopes in the near future it will happen.

With the Assembly of First Nations’ annual general assembly beginning yesterday in Vancouver, Henderson said the TLEC hopes the lawsuit levelled against the federal government will be a topic of conversation at the event.

The Brandon Sun contacted Rolling River First Nation for comment on the court proceedings, but did not receive a reply by press time.

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