Solutions to land claims debated

Federal election candidates spar in Caledonia

By Bill Jackson – The Regional

October 8, 2008

Federal election candidates including Conservative incumbent Diane Finley and Liberal hopeful Dr. Eric Hoskins say they could use the newly established federal land claims tribunal to expedite the resolution of Six Nations land claims.

However independent candidate Gary McHale said land claims are not at the root of Caledonia's problems and that he would take politicians out of the equation in order to solve them.

The candidates debated on Monday evening at the Caledonia Legion where more than 250 people packed into an upstairs meeting room. Many spectators stood for the entire duration of the two-hour affair and others turned away at the door.

Some criticized the chosen location because the meeting, organized by the Chamber of Commerce, was expected to be a well attended, pivotal gathering of undecided voters.

The negotiation of native land claims was the main topic debated.

When asked what he'd do to resolve them, Hoskins said he'd utilize the independent land claims tribunal that takes effect two days after the election, later saying that it's a tangible tool which hasn't been available in the past.

In June 2008, the Specific Claims Tribunal Act received Royal Assent.

According to an online document at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, "The legislation creates an independent tribunal to bring greater fairness to the way specific claims are handled in Canada while also accelerating the resolution of these claims…

"Developed jointly with the Assembly of First Nations, the legislation establishes a new independent body called the Specific Claims Tribunal. Although negotiations will always be the first choice, the tribunal will be able to make binding decisions where claims are rejected for negotiations or if negotiations fail. The creation of an independent tribunal was one of the main recommendations in the 2006 report of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples on specific claims."

If land claims aren't resolved through negotiations in three years they must go to the tribunal, Hoskins said, "and I plan to be the first in line."

Finley said she was glad to hear that Hoskins supported the tribunal, especially after the Liberals voted against it.

The problem is the lack of motivation that's needed to settle, she said. Some native negotiators are willing to find a solution, others are not.

All parties must be willing to settle and can't keep coming back with counter proposals of $500 million, Finley added, referring to retorts made by Six Nations negotiators.

According to the INAC document, "Decisions of the tribunal will not address claims valued at over $150 million, punitive damages, cultural and spiritual losses, or non-financial compensation."

The Conservative government brought the Six Nations Confederacy to the negotiating table back in 2006 and since that time, outlandish financial demands have been tabled by the traditional form of native governance.

McHale said the first step is to get politicians out of the negotiation system. There are land claims in this country every single week and he argued that judges should solve them, not politicians.

The main impediment to resolution, he said, is that far too many people are making money by participating in negotiations. Six Nations has received more than $1.1 million in funding to hold negotiations over the past two years, which includes thousands of dollars in honoraria for certain individuals, some of whom are being charged with crimes in relation to land and smoke shack protests. Federal negotiators are receiving $1400 per session, McHale said.

"Why would anyone want to settle when you make that much money?"

During his opening statement, McHale determined that local residents came to Monday's meeting, not because they wanted to hear an election debate, but because of violence and highway blockades.

"I have never argued against land claims since the day I got involved," he said, later adding that he wouldn't negotiate "when crimes are being committed…at the threat of violence."

Hoskins said that candidates can get on a soap box or hide in Ottawa, but asked people "what has it got you?"

As an international philanthropist he has negotiated in war torn regions all over the world and preached his experience in dealing with similar situations. He also said the Prime Minister needs to get involved in issues facing the local area.

Finley was asked why the Minister of Indian Affairs has been absent on the Caledonia file and she admitted that Chuck Strahl has not visited the area yet. But that doesn't mean he's absent on the file, she said, explaining that offers to try and settle land claims could not be made without his participation. Finley said that she talks with Strahl regularly and reiterated several times that she is the voice of local residents in Ottawa.

Many are frustrated that resolutions are taking so much time, but the community did not get "X, Y or Z" because Finley said she relayed their message to decision makers.

When several people in the audience became loud and boisterous following her response, emcee Warren Burger asked if someone had opened the bar. He said the crowd needed to sow respect or he would shut the meeting down.

Later, Finley told the media that people must realize what an MP can and cannot do. They must realize that an MP is their voice in Ottawa and that the federal role in issues facing Caledonia is resolving land claims, not policing, she said.

Hoskins admitted that there are severe law and order issues hurting Caledonia that fall under provincial jurisdiction, but believes that unresolved land claims are at the core.

The election, he said, is a referendum on leadership. Disappointment with Diane Finley differs, but remains constant throughout the riding, he said.