Canada to Push Aboriginal Treaties Amid Stalled Pipelines

By Andrew Mayeda  

Canadian Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt said his government is increasing efforts to settle land claims with aboriginal groups to ease opposition to resource projects such as pipelines.
The government wants to reform the way it negotiates land-claim treaties in the first overhaul of its policy in nearly three decades. Valcourt said he hopes the moves will accelerate talks, especially in British Columbia, where unsettled claims have fueled resistance to projects such as Enbridge Inc. (ENB)’s Northern Gateway pipeline.
“We need a speedier process,” Valcourt, 62, said yesterday in an interview in his office at the nation’s main parliament building in Ottawa. “It’s ridiculous that it would take 20 to 25 years to reach a settlement on such a claim, which is about what it takes right now.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is trying to marshal support among aboriginals for a wave of resource developments that will require C$650 billion ($585 billion) in capital spending over the next decade. Opposition by some groups is
clouding the prospects of projects such as Northern Gateway, which faces several legal challenges even after receiving cabinet approval in June.
Aboriginals, also known as First Nations, Indians or Inuit, lived in the territory that became Canada centuries before contact with Europeans began around 1500, according to a 1996 Royal Commission report. Settlers from Europe depended on aboriginals for survival for at least 200 years before a push to assimilate created what the report called “a legacy of brokenness.”

Peace Deals

Treaty making in Canada dates back to the early 18th Century, when the British and French started negotiating peace deals with aboriginal groups. While about 70 land-claim agreements have been signed, there are about 100 disputes that remain unresolved, most of them in British Columbia.
Valcourt’s department is gathering feedback from aboriginal leaders on proposed changes to the government’s negotiating policy released this month. Among other things, the amended policy would give officials flexibility to reach short-term deals on resource-revenue sharing and other issues when land-claim settlements appear unlikely.
“Canada’s First Nations will be poised to take advantage of substantial resource development, contributing to the national economy, contributing to provincial economies, to their communities. That’s what these reforms will do,” Valcourt said. “But it takes two to tango.”

Court Challenges

Harper’s cabinet approved Calgary-based Enbridge’s Northern Gateway in June, eliminating the final major regulatory obstacle for the conduit, which would carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to the country’s Pacific Coast.
Aboriginal groups such as the Haida Nation in B.C. are challenging the pipeline in court, arguing the government didn’t fulfill its obligation under the nation’s constitution to consult them on projects that affect their land.
Valcourt said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuits, because they’re before the courts.
In December, an adviser appointed by Harper found that many aboriginal groups don’t support energy projects such as pipelines because of environmental concerns. Canada should take steps to secure native support for energy projects, including measures to prevent oil spills as well as providing financing for aboriginal businesses that want to participate in such projects, according to the report by lawyer Douglas Eyford.

Landmark Decision

Canada’s Supreme Court ruled in June that First Nations in British Columbia can be granted legal title to traditional lands regardless of how intensively they use them. The Assembly of First Nations, an Ottawa-based organization representing more than 900,000 people living in 634 tribes, called it a landmark decision that forces the government to take aboriginal land title seriously.
Valcourt said the decision confirms “the best way to resolve outstanding aboriginal rights and title claims is still through a negotiated process.”
“What the decision has done is laid out the principles and what are the rules of law and questions of fact that must be present to support a declaration of aboriginal title, and that cannot but help in the negotiating process,” he said.