Completed Inquiries – Reports Released
05/10/2006
Cowessess First Nation [1907 surrender - Phase II] – July 2006
The Cowessess First Nation submitted a specific claim in 1981, supplemented between 1984 and 1992, in respect of the 1907 surrender of a portion of its reserve, alleging invalidity of the surrender, fiduciary breach, fraud, and unconscionable conduct. The claim was rejected in 1994, and in August 1996, at the request of the First Nation, the ICC agreed to conduct an inquiry into the rejected claim. By agreement of the parties and the Commission, the inquiry was split into two phases. In Phase I, the Commission held that a valid surrender vote had not been obtained, but Canada did not accept its recommendation to negotiate the claim. Phase II therefore proceeded, in October 2002, to address the fiduciary issue. The new panel, struck for Phase II, did not, at the First Nation’s request, conduct a community session, and legal arguments were heard in September 2004. The inquiry focused on whether the Crown breached its fiduciary duty in the surrender of the southern portion of the Crooked Lake Reserve, IR 73. The southern portion of the reserve, within six miles of the railway, comprising 41 per cent of the reserve, was surrendered. The Cowessess Band lived, farmed and raised livestock in the north of the reserve and used the southern portion to cut wild hay for its livestock. The First Nation alleged that the Crown breached its fiduciary duty by responding to pressure from settlers, who wanted the land nearest the railway, and that it failed to act in the Band’s best interests. The majority of the panel held that there was no breach; the band members understood the consequences of the surrender, and government officials did not deceive or unduly influence the Band. The minority found that the best interests of the Band were not served by government failure to protect the reserve land; the settlers, not the Band, benefited in the long term from the surrender. The Commission released a report on this inquiry in October 2006. To download the news release To download the report - PDF  Link to the summary of Phase I of this inquiry
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