BY KAREN BEST
November 17, 2006
Haldimand Review
Six Nations representatives are working on an interim process requiring developers and municipalities to consult with their community and to accommodate their input.
"Before any developer puts a shovel into the ground, they will come and consult with us," said Wes Elliot, who is a Six Nations member on the duty to consult side table. This groups purpose is related to development and the impact on Six Nations land which must be dealt with on a nation-to-nation level, he said.
The consultation side table is one of four side tables established by the main negotiating table where representatives from Canada, Ontario and Six Nations are undertaking negotiations and discussions. All recommendations from side tables will be presented to the main table, which is the decision making body.
The duty to consult and accommodate First Nations arises from three recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions. In a 2005 ruling, the court found the Crown did not address the Mikisew Cree First Nation concerns through meaningful consultation on road construction which would impinge on hunting, trapping and fishing rights.
At a recent community meeting in Ohsweken, Elliot told a crowd of 100 Six Nations residents that an interim process on consultation is under development. The process will be used with developers who have already gone through municipal planning approvals, he said. They still have to consult and accommodate Six Nations, he said. The intention is to establish consultation on every development in the Haldimand Tract, he said.
In 1784, Britain gave the Six Nations six miles on either side of the Grand River from its source to its mouth to replace ancestral lands lost in the American War of Independence. Six Nations were important allies for Britain in the war.
Elliot said the consultation side table is reviewing government-to-government relationships, treaty rights and information sharing to identify a permanent approach to the process.
The group tabled a proposed $1.3-million budget, which was not responded to by Ontario and Canadian officials, said Elliot. Those bodies felt the budget was too high and Six Nations felt it was a little low, he said.
Currently, the side table is working with an interim budget of $150,000 and is gathering as much information as it can, said Elliot. They are also seeking a legislative framework for aggregate (stone) and oil and gas resources, he said. Hydro plant royalties will also be examined, he said.
Elliot said the Grand River Conservation Authority is an example of how Six Nations lands are used for the monetary gain of the conservation authority and others. The authority has control of "over 50,000 acres of our land" and has a $23-million annual budget, he said. Half of the revenue is made off of Six Nations land, he said.
In the last month, Six Nations learned Canada is the No.1 location for immigrants. Over the next 20 years, 3.5 million immigrants will move into Ontario with one-third moving into Toronto and the greater horseshoe area, he said.
"That is why we are looking at development on the Grand," said Elliot.
With residential development, commercial development will come and Six Nations has had no input on this and the law, said Elliot.
The provincial and federal governments also earn provincial sales tax, land transfer fees and other revenues off Six Nations land, he said.