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01/04/2005
ICC Issues Report on Betsiamites Inquiries
Ottawa (April 1, 2005)—The Indian Claims Commission (ICC) today issued its report on two specific claim inquiries by the Betsiamites Band of Quebec. The claims concern Highway 138 (formerly Highway 15) through the Betsiamites reserve and a bridge over the Betsiamites River. The claims were submitted to the ICC in 2000 by the Band, following their rejection by the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
On January 8, 2004, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs accepted the two claims for negotiation, recognizing that the claims showed breaches of Canada’s legal and fiduciary obligations under the Indian Act relating to the use of reserve lands for public purposes. The following month, the Band council accepted the Minister’s offer.
ICC Chief Commissioner, Renée Dupuis, said that as a result of the decision by Canada and the Band to enter into negotiations, the Commission concluded its inquiries into the two claims. She expressed her satisfaction with the outcome and thanked the members of the ICC panel, Commissioners Sheila G. Purdy (the chair of the panel) and Alan C. Holman, for their efforts in helping to bring about a successful resolution to the dispute.
The matter of Highway 138 and the Betsiamites River bridge has been an issue for more than 40 years, although construction of the section of the road on the Betsiamites reserve actually began in the late 1920s. The claims related to the legal title to lands used for the construction of the road. The lands were never formally surrendered to the federal Crown and transferred to the Province of Quebec, or expropriated with Governor in Council consent. The Band’s efforts in the 1980s to negotiate with the government of Quebec to settle the dispute, proved unsuccessful.
In 1995, the Band submitted its claims to the Specific Claims Branch of Indian and Northern Affairs. In April 1999, the department rejected the claims and the following year, the Band requested that the ICC conduct an inquiry. The Commission decided to inquire into the two claims together because of the similarities in the historical facts of each claim.
Following the community session held by the ICC in June 2002, during which elders of the Betsiamites community gave oral evidence to the Commission panel, and after the panel heard the evidence of a former employee of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Canada reconsidered its rejection of the claims and offered to accept them for negotiation.
The Indian Claims Commission was established in 1991 to examine, at the request of a First Nation, specific land claims rejected by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
To download the report - PDF 