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05/08/2003

ICC Issues Report on Coldwater-Narrows Reservation Claim

Ottawa (May 8, 2003) - The Indian Claims Commission (ICC) today issued its report on a claim by the Chippewa Tri-Council that dates back to the early 19th century. The Tri-Council consists of the Beausoleil First Nation, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation and the Chippewas of Mnjikaning (Rama) First Nation.

The federal government has accepted the claim for negotiation under the Specific Claims Policy. The ICC report states that the Commission has suspended its inquiry into the claim, since both Canada and the First Nations have agreed to enter into negotiations.

Speaking on behalf of the Commission, ICC Chief Commissioner Phil Fontaine said that he was pleased with the outcome to date: "We wish the parties well in their negotiations towards a settlement," he added. Although an inquiry was ultimately avoided, the panel assigned to the claim consisted of Commissioners Roger J. Augustine, Daniel J. Bellegarde and Renée Dupuis.

The claim involves the surrender of the Coldwater-Narrows Reservation to the Crown. It alleges that the reservation, a staggered, 14-mile strip of land running from the Narrows at Lakes Couchiching and Simcoe west to Matchedash Bay, had never been properly surrendered to the Crown. It also alleges that the 1836 treaty purporting to surrender the land had not been understood by the Chippewas of Lakes Huron and Simcoe, who believed that the treaty would secure their title to the reserve. The claim maintains that the transaction amounts to a breach of the Crown's fiduciary duty to the Chippewa Tri-Council.

The claim was submitted to Canada in November 1991 and was rejected in April 1996. In August 1996, the Chippewa Tri-Council asked the ICC to conduct an inquiry into the rejection. As part of its inquiry process, the ICC chaired the planning conferences. Additional research was conducted over the next two years and a fresh legal opinion was completed by the Department of Justice. In July 2002, Canada officially accepted the claim for negotiation.

As a result of the ICC's involvement in the process, each of the three First Nations requested the Commission to provide mediation/facilitation services for the negotiation of the claim.

The ICC was established in 1991. Its mandate is: to inquire, at the request of a First Nation, into specific claims that have been rejected by the federal government or where the First Nation disputes the compensation criteria being considered in negotiations; and to provide mediation services on consent of the parties at any stage of the claims process.

To download the report PDF