ICC PLEASED WITH FORMAL CONCLUSION OF COLD LAKE / CANADA AGREEMENT

Ottawa (July 12, 2002) - Phil Fontaine, Chief Commissioner of the Indian Claims Commission, today offered his congratulations to all parties involved in the long-awaited formal signing of a settlement agreement between Canada and the Cold Lake First Nations of Alberta.

The claim, which dealt with expropriation of First Nation lands by the federal government almost half a century ago for the Primrose Lake Air Weapons Range, was submitted to the Commission in 1993. The Commission recommended that the claim be accepted for negotiation and in 1995, the government accepted the claim for negotiation. The subsequent agreement was ratified by the First Nation in December 2001 and took effect April 8, 2002. A formal signing ceremony is being held today at Cold Lake First Nation.

"This was the first claim submitted to the Commission after its creation more than a decade ago. It is immeasurably satisfying to me and particularly to those Commissioners who took part in that first panel of inquiry, to see the claim reach a successful conclusion," said Mr. Fontaine.

Commissioner Dan Bellegarde, a member of the 1993 panel of inquiry, will represent the Commission at the signing ceremony.

The Indian Claims Commission is a temporary, independent body established in 1991 to inquire, at the request of a First Nation, into specific land claims that have been rejected by the federal government.

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