Mistake in 1982 means TFN has claim to as much as 4000 hectares

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By Robert LaFrance

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Because the federal Indian agent in 1892 failed to 'do the paperwork', it has turned out that Tobique First Nation now has a legitimate claim to thousands of hectares of land including that on the Perth side of Perth-Andover and other lands southeast of the Tobique River, but no one will be forced off his or her land.

Federal negotiator Luc Beaudry said last week at a Fredericton news conference that there was never a federal order-in-council approving the surrender of much of the Tobique reserve in 1892; he blamed the Indian agent at the time for not taking the required steps to complete the sale of the land.

"What's occurred is that the federal government has made a decision that the claim that had been submitted previously can be validated," explained Wendell Nicholas, spokesman for the band, on Monday afternoon. "What that means is that there is a (legal) basis that there was a form of injustice that was done with the 1892 alleged surrender of lands in and around the community here and in and around Perth-Andover village and other areas," he said.

Nicholas went on to say that the federal government and the band have agreed on a process that will take about three years to complete, and if no solution is arrived it, a tribunal will be put into place.

"Rather than a legal court battle that this will be 'good faith negotiations' that would look at issues concerning the land" that has been sold to individuals and businesses.

"The federal government has now stated that the surrender of land that occurred in 1892 was not done properly," said Nicholas. He said that because negotiations hadn't started and that some parcels of land still need to be looked at, he could only estimate that the area of the land in question was "between 7500 to 10,000 acres".

"They need to be researched in terms of how they were disposed of. It would be the area of land that is on the Perth side of the Tobique River and the St. John River side. So it doesn't deal with the Andover side or Aroostook."

Asked if he thought the Harper government seemed more willing than previous ones to settle aboriginal land claims, Wendell Nicholas replied: "There have been two other claims that have been resolved, upriver in Madawaska and downriver in Woodstock and I think from my vantage point that this government is interested in trading some certainty around land and these outstanding claims.

"There's legislation that has gone through the Senate - but not yet through Royal Assent - that says that if our negotiations were not successful in 36 months, then, based on the agreement of both parties, a tribunal would look at the claim and then conduct its own work on evaluation of land and questions surrounding the claim."

Nicholas said that people in the area should realize before the negotiations begin that Tobique First Nation does not want to force anyone to move from their homes.

"The guiding principle of the specific claims policy is that no one will be forcibly removed from their land; nobody will be forced to sell their land and so the outstanding amounts will have to do with the opportunity for (the band) to purchase new land. It represents a positive step for the village of Perth-Andover because new resources will be within Tobique First Nation."

He said that the settled claims in Woodstock and Madawaska County have already resulted in new money for their areas' economies.

In news reports published by the Telegraph-Journal, Beaudry confirmed there's no risk of people losing homes or businesses because of the claim.

"Nobody gets expropriated as the result of a resolution of a claim," Beaudry said. "The interests of third parties are fully protected during negotiations. You don't repair an historical wrong by committing another one."

Beaudry could not say how much it will cost to settle the claim, but it is expected to be a multimillion-dollar agreement. In addition to the actual value of the lands in question, on which now sit schools, hospitals, businesses and homes, there is the economic value of the loss of those lands over the past 106 years.

If the recent Woodstock First Nation land claim is any indication, the compensation cheque could be huge. Woodstock received $2.5 million for 10 acres of land expropriated between 1910 and 1966. Woodstock First Nation has the option to purchase up to 10 acres of replacement land to add to the community under the federal Additions to Reserves Policy.

The band council decided to divide $1 million of that settlement between the 813 Woodstock First Nation band members, issuing $1,200 cheques for each person over the age 19. Children under the age of consent had their portion placed in a trust fund until they turn of age.