David Peterson is among a growing chorus demanding faster action on native land claims.
By Canadian Press - posted London Free Press
After mediating several cases, he warns of "a new militancy" among First Nations who've felt ignored for too long.
Peterson says more confrontations are on the way.
"There is hardly a rail line, a road, a pipeline, a hydro line that doesn't somewhere go across disputed property. But one of the great frustrations for the aboriginal community is no one has sat down and seriously engaged in discussion about this."
A stack of dusty studies has slammed the slow pace of settlements. Native leaders complain that
Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice himself says the system is broken with backlogged claims soaring to about 800 from 250 since 1993.
Prentice said he will soon ask cabinet to approve an action plan. The question is whether he can sway the Conservative government to make potentially costly changes.
The price of not acting may be much higher, observers say.
A new generation of native activists -- increasingly youthful, restless and often unemployed -- has lost patience, says Peter Russell, a constitutional expert at
"We're going to have more and more of these flashpoint events. It's an urgent, urgent matter. It divides us all. It's very costly and it's unnecessary. We have to scream: Government, move! Please!"
Over the weekend, a splinter group of Mohawks of the
He also said the protest is just one in a planned campaign of economic disruption.
People inconvenienced by the weekend chaos were understandably angry, Russell says.
"But we're the culprits as much as the First Nations people. We and our governments have not been willing to get a process in place that's fair and expeditious."
It's not unusual for legitimate claims to be stalled for decades, as small armies of lawyers and negotiators get rich with little incentive to speed things up, Peterson said.