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22/02/1995

Indian Claims Commission Recommends that Canada Negotiate Settlement with Sumas

Ottawa (Feb. 22, 1995) - The Indian Claims Commission has strongly urged the government of Canada to negotiate an early settlement with the Sumas First Nation. The ICC made its recommendation after an inquiry into a specific land claim arising from a 1910 expropriation of land from the Sumas Indian Reserve No. 6 in the Fraser Valley.

In releasing the report of the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) on this matter, Commissioner Carole Corcoran said the expropriation of 85 years ago and a subsequent decision in 1927 have left an industrial operation and five undeveloped lots owned by non-Aboriginal people right in the middle of the Sumas Indian Reserve's residential area.

The Commission found "that Canada failed by all accounts to meet its fiduciary obligations to the Sumas Band" and recommends that the Sumas claim "be accepted for negotiation under Canada's Specific Claims Policy". The Specific Claims Policy is separate from treaty-making processes currently addressing comprehensive claims in British Columbia.

"In the view of the Indian Claims Commission," Corcoran said, "It is well past the time for this specific claim of the Sumas to be negotiated and settled."

The ICC report was released Wednesday (February 22) at a meeting at the Sumas Reserve where ICC Counsel Kim Fullerton presented a copy to Chief Lester Ned of the Sumas First Nation, a part of the Sto:lo nation whose traditional territories lie between Fort Langley and Yale in the Fraser Valley.

In 1910, a parcel of 41.9 acres of land from the Sumas Reserve No. 6 was expropriated by the Federal government for use as a railway right-of-way.

When the line was abandoned in 1927, the Sumas were permitted to purchase only one-third of the land involved. Non-Aboriginals who also had their lands expropriated were allowed to repurchase these lands for a nominal sum of $1.

On the land in question there is a plastic manufacturing plant, Flex Lox Industries. It is in the centre of the residential area of the Sumas Reserve, and operates trailer trucks day and night, where about 70 per cent of the 225 members of the Sumas First Nation now live. Residents complain of traffic, fumes and hazardous materials from this plant.

In 1982, the government of Canada published a Specific Claims Policy, under which it agreed to negotiate any specific claim where there is an outstanding lawful obligation on the part of the Federal government. The ICC was set up to inquire into and report on whether a claimant has a valid claim for negotiation under the Policy, where that claim has been rejected by Canada.

In 1988, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs rejected the Sumas Band's claim. In September 1993, the Sumas requested that the ICC conduct an inquiry into this claim.

ICC Commissioner Carole Corcoran, said, "In this case, after reviewing more than 600 pages of documents, holding a community meeting at the Sumas reserve, listening to elders and representatives of the First Nation and considering written and oral submissions from counsel for the Sumas and for Canada, the Commission recommends that Canada negotiate a settlement, and that it do so as quickly as possible."

To download the report PDF