Federal government officials have been meeting informally with Six Nations representatives to find a way to get land claims negotiations back on track, says Brant MP Phil McColeman.
"The latest update is the fact that, informally, Canada has been meeting with people from the elected band council of the Six Nations and the Confederacy over the last 12 months to find a formula that will work," McColeman said at the annual Chamber of Commerce Brantford Brant MP-MPP breakfast at the Brant Park Inn. "We're looking for something that will work because we want results.
"I don't want talk and I don't want something to just satisfy the politics. I want results."
He said the government plans to sit down with Six Nations to hammer out a strategy.
"We know it can be done," McColeman said. "We've settled 350 of them (land claims) across Canada.
"There are things we have learned from all of those experiences. We know that we can do this."
The federal government is well aware of the importance of the land claims issue and the negative impact it has had on the community and has taken unprecedented action on solving such issues across the country, he said.
Locally, the government reached an agreement with the Mississaugas of the New Credit -the largest in Canadian history at $145 million for the Brant Tract and the Toronto specific land claims.
"That was a wonderful day, the day we celebrated on the Mississaugas of New Credit," he said. "The Mississaugas of New Credit are models in their resolve and their determination to persist over unimaginable obstacles in their own community to get this settled."
Levac spoke about the importance of everyone working together for the betterment of all communities, saying people must learn how "to play in the sandbox" together.
He said that Six Nations managed to gain attention to importance of the land claims issue.
"They got our attention and we got angry back," Levac said. "We wanted to wipe them out, we wanted to put them in handcuffs and take them away. We wanted to hit them with billy clubs.
"We wanted to start the school yard fight."
Fortunately, he said, there has been a change for the better,
"Thanks to the good work of the county and both mayors and the chiefs, we're talking. We're co-operating and that's what's going to continue to get us moving forward and the chamber has had a lot to do with that too."
He recalled how he organized a local summit that brought people together to find ways easing the animosity created by the land claims dispute.
"We have to understand what everyone, including the people of the Six Nations and the Mississaugas of New Credit, is after -a better life for their kids," Levac said.
"We have to continue building relations, continue to talk to each other and continue to look for ways of working together."
When everyone does learn how to work together, the community will prosper and start to reach its potential, he said.
"Just geographically, where we're located, any business-minded person would look at our area and say, 'That's a bull's-eye'," Levac said.
"We're within 100 kilometres of one of the most dynamic economics in the entire world. We're situated in one of the best places to be. And, yet, people have said, 'What's going on? Why aren't things happening?' And it was all because we weren't playing the sandbox together.
With respect to the economy, McColeman said there is reason for optimism, however, he said the situation remains fragile and requires careful monitoring in the coming months.
On the Green Energy Hub, McColeman said the federal government has committed funding through a regional economic development initiative that helps new businesses get started.
Levac said that the Green Energy Hub is a result of the provincial government's Green Energy Act, which seeks to promote the use of green energy, including solar and wind power throughout the province while reducing the dependency on fossil fuels.
He said he has long been an advocate of the green energy hub concept.