UPDATE ON COWESSESS’S SPECIFIC LAND CLAIMS – January 7, 2025
Office of the Chief
January 7, 2025
UPDATE ON COWESSESS’S SPECIFIC LAND CLAIMS
Tanisi and Anin Sikwa!
As many of our members are aware, Justin Trudeau announced his resignation as Prime minister of Canada yesterday, January 6, 2025. He will remain in office in a “care taker” capacity until the Liberal Party elects a new leader who will then become Prime Minister of Canada. Prime Minister Trudeau requested from and received a prorogue from the Governor General that is in effect until March 24, 2025. It is after Parliament reconvenes after the prorogue, that it is most likely (although not guaranteed) that a federal election will be called.
Until then, Ministers and the governmental bureaucracy will continue their work and will prioritize what they can accomplish until the time an election is called. Once the election is called, all work at the political level as well as any business that has to be voted on will stop until the new government is formed. Once this happens, political and parliamentary business will resume.
Cowessess currently has one priority specific land claim- that being the 1907 Surrender which is now going through the process of moving towards settlement. It was originally expected that it would be completed in December 2024 until Council was advised this timeline was no longer possible. The reason we have been given is that we have a very high value claim and it has to be included in the budgets that go to the House Floor. Originally, Cowessess was given the information that we would be included in the Fall budget however once the NDP ended its “supply and confidence” agreement with the Liberal government on September 4, 2024, the Liberal government knew that a non confidence vote could occur any day. This had the government reprioritize their agenda and unfortunately, high value specific claims became less of a priority. Cowessess was one of several that became affected by this.
In October 2024, on behalf of Council and in my role as Chief, I began an intensive lobby effort with Ottawa to put Cowessess back on the priority list and was successful in being assured that our 1907 would be in the Spring budget. At this time, I also explored the opportunity with government to move forward with the Agricultural Benefits (Cows and Ploughs) specific claim. Currently, Cowessess has received a letter from the Regional Director of Specific Claims that our request for consideration has been approved and we are eligible for the expedited process that has been offered for all numbered treaty bands. Even though this seems like great news, there is a very serious decision that Council has to consider. We have to ensure the Cows and Ploughs settlement formula that is used does not affect the 1907 settlement financial amount that we agreed upon. This is very important to understand because Cowessess’s 1907 amount is very dependent on an agreed upon formula that makes our claim “high value”. The solution to this is to have the government confirm that one settlement does not impact the other in terms of financial and land payment. If we agree to move forward with the Cows and Ploughs without having a legal letter that states the agreed upon compensation in the 1907 will not be impacted, our 1907 settlement amount may be significantly reduced. We are working diligently to get this letter so we may move forward with the Cows and Ploughs expedited process.
Minister Anandasangaree retains his position and authority over this Claim and he has given direction to his administration to keep Cowessess as a priority in the next 3 months he will be in office. Saying that, there are many unknowns as to whether our Claims will be settled by the time an election is called. What is positive is that an election will not stop what we have in the claims system process. It will just take longer.
It is hard to trust the government when as a people we have had many reasons not to. Saying that, I do believe Cowessess remains high on the priority list for Specific Claims as Minister Anandasangaree and other high level officials have made time to discuss our claims both yesterday and today. This is a huge indication of priority as the PM just resigned yesterday and we have had over 2 hours of conversation when there are over 630 First Nations who vie for the time of the Minister, his office, the Regional Directors and others. Please know that I have been told that our lobby efforts have been recognized positively and that I have been assured that at no time has Cowessess held up the claims processes and it is external forces that have changed our initial timeline.
As your Chief, I promise you that I will continue to lobby intensively so that we can have the compensation that Cowessess and its people are entitled to. I look forward to being able to share further details as the dust settles in Ottawa and we receive more information.
On behalf of Council, I extend our appreciation for your patience and support.
Hiy hiy and Chi-Miigwetch,
Chief Erica
