The signing of an agreement on consultation and accommodation that aims to bring about a new era of co-operation between the city and Six Nations has been postponed until April 4.
The postponement will give both the city council and the Six Nations Elected Band Council an opportunity to take the proposed memorandum of understanding back to their respective communities for further discussion and input, representatives of both elected councils said Sunday.
"I think as a council we have to do a better job of communicating with our community," Six Nations Elected Band Council Chief Bill Montour said Sunday. "It's an oversight on our part.
"We're not communicating to the extent that we should and that's something we're going to take steps to change right away."
The postponement follows a lengthy meeting between the elected band council, the Men's Fire and the Mohawk Workers at Kanata on Sunday. A number of concerns about the agreement were raised and it was agreed that the best step would be to put off the signing until April 4.
In the meantime, there was also agreement that a March 12 meeting on Six Nations Territory will be the foundation of the consultation on the Memorandum of Understanding.
Among other things, the agreement will establish a consultation committee and a list of matters that each party wants to submit to a negotiation process. The purpose of the committee is to exchange information about issues and initiatives and, through discussion generate advice and recommendations for reasonable accommodation of interests.
The committee sets out equal representation for the city and Six Nations, and up to three seats for provincial representatives.
The memorandum of understanding calls for a $10 million lawsuit launched by Six Nations against the city to be dropped and it says the parties contemplate the agreement will assist them on moving forward while Six Nations specific land claims continue to be negotiated between the federal and provincial governments.
Montour said Sunday there are several groups on Six Nations that want to have input and discussion on the memorandum before it is signed.
Brantford Mayor Chris Friel said he left the meeting 'encouraged' by the discussions that occurred between the groups at the meeting.
The delay will give city representatives an opportunity to take the memorandum of understanding to various groups including the Chamber of Commerce Brantford/Brant and the homebuilders association.
Moreover, the delay will give everyone involved an opportunity to clear up any misunderstandings that have arisen, he said.
By way of example, there are some who believe – incorrectly – that the memorandum of understanding would deter Six Nations from pursuing a resolution of outstanding land claims.
The agreement in no way deters Six Nations from pursuing land claims and it doesn't attempt to settle them, Friel said on Sunday.
"The memorandum doesn't interfere with that process in any way," Friel said.
Lisa VanEvery, of Six Nations and a member of the Expositor's Community Editorial Board, was pleased that the signing has been postponed and said that her understanding is that the April 4 date is a tentative date.
"It's a good thing that this has been postponed because now the community will have a chance to read and review the document," VanEvery said. "We only became aware of this last night (Saturday night) and we didn't really have a chance to review it in depth."
But even at that, she and others say the document raises a lot of questions and concerns for people of Six Nations.
"There are a lot of glaring concerns," she said.
There were a lot of groups from Six Nations at the meeting including the Mohawk Nation, Ongwehonwe Women's council and the Men's Fire.
Jan Kahehti:io Longboat, of the women's council, was adamant that the agreement not be signed on Monday.
"We just received it (the document) Saturday night and we have so many questions," she said. "It (the document) has never been given to the community.
"We haven't had time to review it and I think it's very scary that they were going to sign it without the community having had a change to really review it," she said. "We were adamant that it would be postponed.
"Now the community will have a chance to review it."