Ocean Man First Nation [Treaty land entitlement]

In July 1994, the Commission accepted the request of the First Nation to conduct an inquiry into its rejected claim that it was entitled to additional land under the terms of Treaty 4 (1874). As a result of changes in the federal treaty land entitlement (TLE) policy, resulting from the ICC’s Fort McKay and Kawacatoose findings, new research was conducted in 1999 to determine if there was an outstanding TLE obligation. In October of that year, the government provided a paylist analysis indicating a shortfall of treaty land under the existing TLE policy. However, in May 2000, before Canada could complete its review process, the First Nation filed a claim in the courts against the federal government relating to issues beyond the scope of the inquiry, issues which may or may not have an impact on the current TLE claim. The inquiry has been placed in abeyance pending resolution of the litigation.