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15/03/2001

Commissioners Recommend Negotiation of Roseau River's Medical Aid Claim

Ottawa (March 15, 2001) - The Indian Claims Commission today recommended the federal government accept for negotiation a claim arising from the federal government's deduction of expenses for medical aid from a First Nation's trust account without the First Nation's knowledge or consent.

A central issue in the claim by Manitoba's Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation is whether medical aid was one of the promises made by the Government of Canada under the terms of Treaty

1. The treaty focused primarily on the extinguishment of aboriginal title in exchange for the Indians receiving annual cash payments and reserve lands, but the First Nation claims that medical aid was one of a number of verbal "outside promises" conceded by Canada's representatives during anxious last-minute negotiations to close the deal.

It is the first time the Commission has reviewed a claim of this nature, unique in that it questions whether the Government of Canada is lawfully obligated to compensate Roseau River for having deducted payments for medical aid from the First Nation's trust account between 1909 and 1934. Interest on the proceeds of sale of reserve lands surrendered by the First Nation in 1903 formed the primary - if not the only - source of the deductions for medical aid.

"We view this claim as a milestone," said Commission Co-Chair, Daniel Bellegarde. "As our report states, the implications extend far beyond the circumstances of the Roseau River Band. In fact, we believe that the subject of medical aid itself deserves a comprehensive review by both Canada and First Nations."

Although the Commissioners hearing the claim agreed substantially in their recommendation that the Roseau River claim should be accepted for negotiation, each offered different reasons for doing so. For his part, Commissioner Bellegarde, relying on a combination of the historical record and oral testimony of Ojibway "promise keepers", agreed with Roseau River's view of medical aid as a treaty right, ruling that the deductions from the First Nation's interest account represented a breach of treaty and should be repaid.

On the other hand, Commissioner Corcoran found the evidence too equivocal to be able to conclude that Treaty 1 included a written or verbal promise of medical aid or that such a promise, if made, continued beyond the amendment of the treaty in 1875. She also decided that the deductions did not contravene the Indian Act or the terms of the 1903 surrender. Commissioner Corcoran concluded, nonetheless, that the claim should be accepted for negotiation on the basis that although Canada's policy may have been correctly implemented, the outcome for the Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation is unfair.

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 backgrounder

To download the report PDF