Treaty payments to be handed out in Brandon
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/08/2017 (2967 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Returning to Brandon after a five-year absence, this week’s treaty annuity payment sessions might find recipients collecting more than the $5 they’re allotted annually.
With recipients allowed to collect for those years they missed out on, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada communication officer Camille Dupas said that some might leave with a small stack of Wilfrid Laurier-emblazoned bills.
More a symbolic gesture than anything, treaty annuity payments make good on a treaty promise to provide every First Nations person with $5 per year —a rate of pay that has not increased with inflation since treaties were signed more than a century ago.
“It’s only people who are registered members of a First Nations band that were signatories of the treaty who are eligible to receive the payments,” Dupas said.
Every year finds these payments administered at all First Nations communities throughout the province each summer, with a few payments set up in urban centres to accommodate off-reserve populations.
Winnipeg hosts one at The Forks every year, and Thompson held a session last month.
The last time Brandon hosted a session over the course of two days in 2012, the department paid 659 First Nations members a total of $18,030.
Last year found 41,569 Manitobans collect treaty payments in their home communities, which amounted to a total of about $488,340.
This week’s treaty payments will be handed out at the Brandon Friendship Centre, at 205 College Ave., from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. today through Thursday.
In addition to handing out crisp $5 bills, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada representatives will also be on site filling out applications for Secure Certificate of Indian Status cards.
» tclarke@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB