Completed Mediations – Reports Released

20/10/2005

Chippewas of the Thames [Clench defalcation] – August 2005

This claim dates back some 150 years to the mid-1800s. The Chippewas of the Thames claim that moneys owed to the First Nation from the sale of surrender lands were wrongfully appropriated around 1854 by Joseph Brant Clench, an officer with the Indian Department who had been appointed agent for the sale of lands in southern Ontario in 1845. The claim is referred to as the Clench Defalcation (defalcation is a legal term referring to misappropriation of trust funds or money held in a fiduciary obligation).

The claim was accepted for negotiation in June 2001, with negotiations getting under way in November of that year. After a series of meetings and exchanges of opinions regarding particular elements of the claim, Canada made an all-inclusive, global settlement offer in November 2002 which was accepted by the Chippewas of the Thames the following month. The parties immediately began the lengthy process of drafting a settlement agreement which was initialled by the Chief and Canada’s negotiator in April 2004 and ratified by the First Nation in June. The final agreement, which provided $15 million in compensation to the Chippewas of the Thames, was signed by the Minister of Indian Affairs in November 2004.

To download the news release

To download the report - PDF