The federal Aboriginal Affairs department has used “misleading” and “false” statements to claim success in dealing with historical grievances known as specific claims, a new report has found.
A tribunal created to deal with historic First Nation grievances is slowly being smothered by the Harper government, said a British Columbia grand chief in response to revelations the independent body is now being relocated and stripped of the ability to run its own affairs.
When he announced the creation of the Specific Claims Tribunal, Prime Minister Stephen Harper claimed it was a “historic” moment that would “revolutionize” the handling of historical grievances from First Nations.
The federal Aboriginal Affairs department cut its specific claims research budget as part of on-going government-wide belt-tightening in a move that one senior British Columbia chief says is contributing to creating the same environment that produced the 1990 Oka crisis.
The Specific Claims Tribunal blasted a branch of Aboriginal Affairs for being “paternalistic, self-serving, arbitrary and disrespectful” in a recent ruling impacting the department’s “take-it-or-leave-it” gambit to settle historical claims with First Nations.
First Nation claims seeking redress from Ottawa over treaty-related wrongs face months-long delays over “insignificant issues,” according an anonymous letter to Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt penned by bureaucrats working in the departmental branch that handles the files.
After nearly 200 years, the Mohawks of Akwesasne are celebrating the settlement of a specific land claim.
APTN National News Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada has confirmed that they are preparing…
APTN National News Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada has released its first, initial response…
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