Bruce cottage takeover 'safe'

Tue, December 19, 2006

By JOHN MINER, FREE PRESS REPORTER

Takeover of 60 cottages on a native reserve in the Bruce Peninsula is going well, the co-ordinator said yesterday.

"It is going very smooth and safe," said Gail Nadjiwan, who has been hired by the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation to help co-ordinate the removal of belongings from the cottages.

All of the cottagers, including some from London, have been notified they should remove belongings from the buildings by Jan. 31, 2007. Some cottagers have said that may not have enough time.

"They have had 11 years," said Nadjiwan.

The waterfront land, known as the Hope Bay subdivision, was leased for cottage construction to non-natives through the federal government from 1965 to 1995. It is on the northern side of the reserve.

After the lease expired, negotiations between the federal Indian and Northern Affairs Department and First Nation failed to secure a new one.

In a statement issued last week by Chief Paul Nadjiwan, the First Nation band council said the Indian Affairs Department and federal Department of Justice "are of the view that fixtures upon reserve land become part of the reserve land.

"The First Nation agrees with them."

The band council said it intends to assess the land and fixtures on the land as soon as possible and will consider the future use of the area over the winter.

"Any decisions on this matter will be based on what the band council and the First Nation believes in our best interest," the statement said.

The band council met yesterday and decided not to make any changes in the statement it released, a staff member said.

Cottagers have to call ahead to make an appointment and are only being let back into the area to retrieve their belongings under the escort of members of the First Nation, Gail Nadjiwan confirmed.

"They are guests. It is a reserve," she said.

One London area family tried to set up an appointment to pick up their contents on the weekend, but were told it was too busy.

Stephen Gibbs, whose family has had a cottage at Hope Bay since the 1960s, called the situation unbelievable on the weekend.

"All of a sudden it is, 'Get your bags and get out, we are taking your cottages,' " said Gibbs, who emphasized they always had good relations with the natives.

Gibbs said he was told by a federal official there is no chance they will be compensated for their cottage.