Treaty Right to Lands

Specific Claims Tribunal Act
The Specific Claims Tribunal Act, now in effect, has two key features; the creation of an independent Tribunal, and a political agreement between the Minister of Indian Affairs and the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.  The Tribunal and the political agreement complement each other and signal a commitment to address historical grievances.  The new rules and procedures under the new Specific Claims process will not be introduced until after the Tribunal members are confirmed.  To date, no Tribunal members have been determined.  The Specific Claims department will coordinate informational sessions on the Act when requested.

Treaty Land Entitlement and Reserve Creation
The 1992 Saskatchewan Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) Framework Agreement is meant to fulfill Canada’s Treaty obligations to First Nations with respect to land.  It was signed with 25 First Nations, with 8 other First Nations signing TLE agreements after 1992.  These First Nations are entitled to purchase 2.244 million acres for reserve creation.

Extending the Framework Agreement
The 1992 Framework Agreement provides that on the 14th anniversary of the signing of the Agreement (i.e., September 22, 2006) Canada, Saskatchewan and the First Nations should enter into negotiations on extending the reserve creation terms and conditions.  Meetings were held with entitlement First Nations in the fall of 2007 and the spring of 2008, wherein motions were passed approving an extension of the Framework Agreement for an additional 15 years.  As a result, INAC drafted and forwarded an extension agreement to entitlement First Nations on November 6, 2008.  The extension agreement uses the exact same text and wording as the original 1992 TLE Framework Agreement.  So far, 11 entitlement First Nations have signed the extension document and the remainder have until September 2010 to sign. 

Third Party Interests
Both TLE and Specific Claim First Nations are experiencing difficulties in trying to get releases from third-party interest holders on land selections.  Despite various attempts to gain assistance in resolving these issues, the problem still continues  At a meeting of TLE and Specific Claims First Nations in the fall of 2009 the Chiefs in attendance passed a motion directing FSIN to develop a political, technical and legal strategy options paper for consideration.  The LRS is also examining other strategies to resolve this issue including utilizing the Mediation and Settlement Board processes as outlined in the TLE Framework Agreement.  Once this work has been completed, a follow-up meeting of entitlement and specific claim First Nations will be called.

Crown Land Ecological Assessment Tool (CLEAT)
The provincial government is re-assessing lands that are currently leased by farmers that are designated under the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act and the Conservation Easement Act.  The province is addressing requests from the lessees wanting to purchase the land.  The Province will make these lands available to the lessees alone and if there is no interest then the lands will remain with their current designation.  In order for this to work, these Acts would either have to be abolished or amended.  These lands will neither be available for purchase under the TLE Framework Agreement nor will they be available to the general public for purchase.  The new Crown Land Ecological Assessment Tool will determine what quality the land is in and how sensitive the area is before determining the sale of these lands to the lessee.