As the National Capital Commission moves forward with development at LeBreton Flats, the commission must sort out a variety of issues, including Algonquin land claims.
“Consultation with the Algonquin is a key component [of the development],” says François Lapointe, the NCC’s acting vice-president of capital planning and real asset management. “We are committed to working with them. How exactly this will take place, I don’t have the details. But clearly they are key stakeholders and we will continue to work with them.”
The issue of Algonquin land claims has come to the fore in LeBreton Flats because the land is currently being redeveloped.
The Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario and the Algonquins of Ontario are currently involved in negotiations about the claim to a territory that covers about 36,000 square kilometers. The Ottawa River watershed is part of the land claim.
Peter Di Gangi, director of policy and research for the Algonquin nation secretariat at Timiskaming Reserve in Notre Dame du Nord, Que., works for a tribal council that represents the Algonquin communities of Mitcikinabik Inik, Timiskaming and Wolf Lake. These are three of the nine federally recognized Algonquin communities in Quebec.
The only recognized Algonquin community in Ontario is Pikwakanagan.
“The Algonquins of Pikwakanagan, also known as Golden Lake, have asserted a claim for Aboriginal title,” says Di Gangi. “Ottawa falls into the area being claimed by the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan . . . They’re in negotiations with Ontario and Canada and have been since 1991.”
He says the Kitigan Zibi First Nations, also known as Maniwaki, located two hours north of Ottawa in Quebec, also assert interest in the Ottawa area but are not at the negotiating table.
Chris Printup, land claims researcher and resident of Kitigan Zibi, says Ontario is willing to negotiate the Algonquin land claim, but only with those who live on the south side of the Ottawa River.
“What does that say about us Algonquins on the north side? How come we’re not involved?” .
If discussions are taking place between the NCC and Algonquin, he says, they’re not talking to those in Maniwaki.
“For some reason they seem to be under the impression that when an Indian crosses the river he loses all his rights on the other side,” he says. “They’re trying to deny 90 per cent of the Algonquin nation. They’re wasting money and they’re wasting time. We’re not going to go away. We’re not going to let it happen.”
He says he understands that development needs to take place but doesn’t understand why Algonquin north of the Ottawa River are being left out of the process.
“I think it’s safe to say that all of the Algonquin bands, in one form or another, assert some form of right in the Ottawa area,” says Di Gangi.
Speaking on the topic of what the land claim means to LeBreton Flats, he says there has recently been a lot of case law that speaks to the issue the NCC is currently facing – developing land while negotiations are going on.
“For a long time what the federal government says was: ‘Unless we’ve accepted your aboriginal title claim and we’re actually negotiating with you, or unless you settle the claim, then we don’t have any duty to consult with you on developments that might affect the interests you are asserting,’” he says.
However, the Haida nation in British Columbia recently went to court on that issue and won.
The court decision states that even if a claim hasn’t been settled, the government has the moral obligation to consult with those who assert aboriginal title to the land because the development might affect the interests being asserted.
“There is a big difference of opinion over what constitutes legitimate consultation,” says Di Gangi. “The First Nations try to apply a higher standard, and the federal government and the provincial government are going to do as much as they can to apply the lowest standard . . . When the NCC says, ‘We’re consulting,’ the Algonquin might take it differently.”