OHSWEKEN -- Chief Coun. Bill Montour says he hasn't given up on being able to sign an agreement between Six Nations and the City of Brantford.
The elected chief this week delivered a long letter explaining some of the intent behind the drafting of the agreement and answering some concerns that were raised during a March 16 community meeting with 150 people who mainly objected to the agreement.
"Certainly I would like to rescue the agreement," said Montour in a phone interview on Tuesday.
"I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about what the intent was. It was never fully explained."
But Brantford Mayor Chris Friel is clearly not as enthusiastic about rescuing the agreement.
He was turned away from entering a meeting on Six Nations by a small group of women who asked that the city absent itself from the community consultation.
"I'm more cautious. We're in a position where we tried to create a document that fits consultation and we tried to come down and consult and we were rebuffed."
Friel said he won't make any decision about how to proceed until he sees how the situation will play out on Six Nations. And, so far, he hasn't heard anything.
"I haven't heard any willingness to talk from the community
You can find the full text of Six Nations Chief Coun. Bill Montour's letter on our website, brantfordexpositor.ca
so we're in a difficult spot. We're very cautious about moving forward. We drove down there and what we wanted to talk about was misrepresented by a group and we were blocked."
Friel said that, if Montour wants to talk, "he can contact me and I'm willing to do that."
In Montour's letter -produced in its entirety on The Expositor's website, the chief councillor said the agreement was meant to create a "vehicle for revenue sharing for Six Nations" so that the natives could reap a share of the money being made from their traditional lands.
"The intent was to start with Brantford and then go up and down the river to secure agreements with every municipality using our lands," wrote Montour.
In the interview, the chief said the idea is to create a groundswell of municipal support that would eventually push Ontario and Canada into serious negotiations around the table.
Originally, the city and Six Nations elected council were going to sign the agreement with fanfare on March 7.
But when details of the agreement came to light just before the signing ceremony, the Six Nations community loudly opposed the agreement. The signing was first postponed until April 4 and then indefinitely.
"The March 16 meeting should have taken place Feb. 1 or even back in November," said Montour.
"This has been on the council agenda since September, so it wasn't a secret, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have been more communicative about our intentions."
But the chief said he maintains hope that -with some minor tweaking -the agreement can be resurrected.
"There are a lot of people who have come to me with an understanding about what we're trying to do."
Montour said his council had proceeded with the agreement because of an oft-repeated comment in the community.
"Many of the people who are land protectors have said they're not opposed to development but they want to see some kind of (financial) return on Six Nations land," said the chief.
He emphasized that the agreement with Brantford wasn't about settling land claims, since only Canada can do that. Instead, it was about working with a municipality to get some of the revenue generated by traditional Six Nations lands until a settlement is made.
"That's a very strong feeling in the community. I was going on the assumption that people would be supportive of that idea but we didn't communicate it properly."
Montour emphasized that area mayors want more development in their communities to support burgeoning populations. They recognize that if those at the "ground level" can come to an agreement it will push Canada into being more active at the negotiations table.
"We believe this is an excellent thing because the municipalities are seeing the effects of the land rights protectors as hindering their (development) movement."
Now, Montour has made transcripts from the March 16 community meeting and is making copies available to anyone interested.
He's asked the elected councillors to go to their various districts and hold meetings, talking to anyone who wants to understand the proposed agreement.
"The whole council is behind this. There's some wording that has people nervous but words can be changed."
And Montour offers an assurance to the people of Brantford.
"We're not about to depose third-party interests. We're just saying that Ontario is very aware it collects a huge amount of money for Grand River traditional lands every year through land transfer tax and HST.
"How can we do this so Six Nations benefits?"