Federal negotiator Ron Doering says the Caledonia talks on Six Nations land claims are "not getting anywhere" and new approaches need to be considered if any progress is to be made.
One idea he suggests is Ottawa divide up the $26 million offer it made two years to resolve the Welland Feeder Canal claim, which dates from the 1820s. Six Nations, which sits at the negotiating table along with Ontario, made a counter offer of $500 million last fall for the flooding of 1,000 hectares of land once under Six Nations control to help build the canal. The $26 million offer followed a $125 million offer made in May, 2007 to resolve four claims.
"We're constantly shifting and adjusting to our circumstances," Doering said in an interview with The Spectator.
"When they didn't accept the $125 million we went 'All right let's try $26 million.' And then if $26 million is not acceptable ... then maybe we can find another way to approach it, to divide the $26 million up or something like that. We're constantly trying to find a way."
Doering wouldn't say talks have broken off, but said the three sides have not set a new date to meet since "an unpleasant meeting" in October in which Six Nations further pushed the idea of a mediator being introduced into the talks. He said there are "informal discussions" going on about what the three sides can do.
"We were not making any progress," he said.
"We haven't made any progress since the fall and everybody is having to rethink some new approaches."
Doering said Ottawa is not interested in having a mediator brought into the talks, which began in May 2006 after natives occupied a Caledonia housing project and the OPP launched a botched raid on the site.
"A mediator is somebody who comes in when the parties are a little bit apart and tries to help them quietly see if they can come closer together," he said.
"We're not a little bit apart. We're at 2,000 or 4,000 per cent apart ... When they're at $500 million and we're at $26 million, what on earth is a mediator going to do?"
Spokespeople for Six Nations could not be reached for comment last night.
Meanwhile, Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainer, along with the county's CAO Don Boyle, are travelling to Ottawa Monday to meet with Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl to discuss the impact the ongoing land claims dispute is having on the municipality.
Trainer says it will be the first meeting county officials have had with Strahl since he was appointed minister in August, 2007.
Trainer said she also plans to raise the issue of native smoke shops along Highway 6 and the loss of municipal taxes if county land is bought and ceded to Six Nations.