Six Nations needs to bring a greater sense of urgency to land claims talks with government officials, Ottawa's chief negotiator with the native community said Tuesday.
What The Expositor says A10
Federal representative Ron Doering said a lack of response from Six Nations to a $26-million offer made in December to settle a single land claim is leading to increased public and government concern about the slow pace of negotiations.
"I'm urging (Six Nations) to really focus in on this claim and come to a full response," Doering said during an interview. "We really do have to urge them to recognize there will be a growing concern in the native and non-native community if we can't settle this claim.
"We've got to get going on this."
The federal government in December offered Six Nations $26 million to settle a claim for the flooding of native lands in 1829 and 1830 as part of construction of the Welland Canal. The claim covers about 2,400 acres of land.
Last week, Six Nations responded by saying it needed more time to consider the offer.
During an interview Tuesday, Six Nations negotiator LeRoy Hill said native officials won't respond to the federal offer until a consultation process with the Six Nations community has taken place. Hill said a working group has been established for that purpose and will conduct its work during the next six weeks.
"It's quite a massive undertaking and we're committed to consulting everybody," Hill said. "We've got to reach out to them.
"The time for an answer isn't right now. But the federal government has known from the beginning that land has to be part of any offer, but it isn't part of this offer."
While the Welland Canal claim offer includes no mention of land, Doering said Six Nations could acquire land as a result of the settlement by using federal money to buy it.
"I was very clear when I made the offer ... that we could explore how this settlement could deal with their preference for land," Doering said.
Hill said gathering resources and funding for the consultation working group is proving a challenge. He said Six Nations has asked the federal government to release money belonging to the native community to help fund the group.
Six Nations is also interviewing companies that will assess the federal government's Welland Canal claim offer, which Hill said is being taken seriously by native leaders. He said government officials have never revealed what formula they used to come to a figure of $26 million.
"We need to understand how they valued the land they're compensating for," Hill said. "As negotiators, it's almost unacceptable for us not to have those answers."
Hill accused Doering - whose representatives called The Expositor to offer an interview this week - of attempting to gain the upper hand in negotiations by going to the media.
"I think that what you're seeing is negotiating in the media," Hill said. "He's trying to put some momentum on that offer."
Current negotiations between Six Nations and government representatives resulted from the continuing native occupation of the former Douglas Creek Estates subdivision in Caledonia, which began in February 2006. Six Nations protesters say the land was stolen from them by the Crown more than 200 years ago and have pledged to occupy the site until the land is returned. In total, Six Nations has more than 20 outstanding land claims, Doering said.
The offer to settle the Welland Canal claim was the second offer from federal negotiators in less than 12 months. In May last year, the federal government offered Six Nations $125 million to settle three claims, including Six Nations investment in the historic Grand River Navigation Company, as well as a claim on the Burtch Tract near Brantford and one in Moulton Township.
"It became clear by last September they weren't able to deal with the sheer size of the ($125 million) offer," Doering said. "We had to rethink our strategy."
Out of a desire to show progress at the table, Doering said negotiators chose to focus on a single land claim they felt could be settled quickly and chose the Welland Canal claim. If the $26-million offer for the claim is accepted by Six Nations, the $125-million offer will be withdrawn.
"We thought we better pick something we could have some real progress on," Doering said.
Hill disputes Doering's version of events surrounding the federal government's $125-million offer. He said Six Nations asked government negotiators for the formula used to come to the compensation figure and how much liability the government was admitting.
"We still don't know today," Hill said. "They were missing about two or three zeros for what they thought they could resolve with the offer."
Doering said negotiators are feeling immense pressure to show that progress is being made, but that the ball is in Six Nations court if talks are to move forward.
"I don't know what more Canada could have done," Doering said. "We've made two offers in less than a year.
"We've had 42 meetings, negotiated getting the barriers down (in Caledonia) and the province purchased the Douglas Creek Estates.
"I'm not saying they should give us an instant response, but I'm hoping they can give us some sort of timetable. If it means meeting continually for a while so we can make some progress, I'm open to that."
Hill said Six Nations negotiators are also feeling pressure from within their community to reach some resolution.
"I think the pressure's been there since before I was appointed (as a negotiator)," Hill said. "The pressure is real."
The federal government is committed to making the current negotiation process work, Doering said, starting with the resolution of at least one land claim. From that agreement, the process of dealing with remaining Six Nations land claims could move forward, he said.
Hill remains skeptical.
"I don't know if the politicians really give a care," Hill said. "The Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs has never talked to us. That's a pretty clear indication of their position on relationship building: they sent lawyers."