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29/03/1996

Indian Claims Commission Finds B.C. First Nation's Land Claim should be accepted for Negotiation

Ottawa (March 29, 1996) - The Indian Claims Commission (ICC or the Commission) today released its Report on the Inquiry into the Cormorant Island claim submitted by the 'Namgis First Nation. The Commission recommended the claim be accepted for negotiation under the Specific Claims Policy.

ICC Commissioners found that the Federal Government breached its mandatory and fiduciary obligations to the 'Namgis First Nations in 1882 when it failed to refer a dispute concerning the allotment of Cormorant Island as a reserve to a Supreme Court Judge, pursuant to the Order in Council. By 1884, the First Nations had lost approximately 95% of the landallocated to them by Indian Reserve Commissioner G.M. Sproat, including most of the waterfront property. Commissioner P. O'Reilly reallocated only 48.12 acres of the Island, which is over 1,500 acres.

'Namgis First Nation's Elders told of the overcrowded conditions they grew up in, and of being cut off from their only water supply so that they had to pack water to their village. Even the small stretch of beach they were left with was contaminated by the cannery.

"'Namgis  First Nation presented strong evidence that had Canada utilized the dispute resolution process stipulated in the Order in Council, they would have had an excellent chance of keeping more of the land than they did," said Commission Co-chair Daniel J. Bellegarde.

Part of the Commission's mandate is to work with the parties to resolve outstanding claims. However, the Commission's work has sometimes been restricted, as in this case, by the Government's narrow interpretation of the Specific Claims Policy. This Report finds that Canada must include breaches of its fiduciary obligations to First Nations as part of its "lawful obligations" under the Policy.

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