Ron Doering, chief federal negotiator in the land claims talks with Six Nations representatives, said on Friday that talks are complicated by a multitude of factors, some of which are unique to this area and its circumstances.
To address accusations of government inaction, Doering presented a list of the top 10 reasons that negotiations with Six Nations are taking so long.
1. There is almost no case law to consult or refer to that deals with the present-day value of land or cash transactions that were conducted in the early to mid-1800s.
2. Natives and non-natives have completely different "world views" with no overlap between them. 3. Confederacy members say they are not Canadians and not subject to Canadian law.
4. The Six Nations has the largest membership of any reserve in Canada, making it very different from isolated, sparsely populated and largely impoverished northern reserves.
5. There are significant divisions and opposing factions within the Six Nations community itself.
6. The claim itself is very large. 7. Negotiators are dealing with old facts. It is extremely difficult to attempt to reconstruct what exactly happened well over 150 years ago.
8. The negotiation process itself is difficult and not conducive to bargaining when some 50 to 60 people not involved in the talks constantly come and go from the negotiation room, talking amongst themselves. Government negotiators have urged that a smaller group be present but Six Nations representatives say they want community members to have access as spectators.
9. There are many people on Six Nations who do not want a settlement at all.
10. Talks can and do easily get distracted and delayed by the need to deal with immediate problems such as protests and barricades.