2012-13 released at the end of October show Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada with a legal tab of $106 million. With the federal government aggressively pursuing economic development on lands subject to claims by First Nations and movements like Idle No More providing aboriginal groups with “political capital,” the legal process is becoming even more complex and difficult to get through, according to David McRobert, a member of the Ontario Bar Association’s aboriginal law section. With the federal government aggressively pursuing economic development on lands subject to claims by First Nations and movements like Idle No More providing aboriginal groups with “political capital,” the legal process is becoming even more complex and difficult to get through, according to David McRobert, a member of the Ontario Bar Association’s aboriginal law section. The Aboriginal Affairs Department’s spending was also at the top of the list last year, when it racked up $110 million in legal services. “There are currently 81 comprehensive land claims under negotiation, accepted for negotiation or under review.” According to government estimates, “to a point where quantification is possible,” it has a liability of about $4 billion in comprehensive land claims. Since the early 1980s, there have been more than 175 cases brought before the courts involving corporations that want to pursue development on aboriginal lands, says McRobert. In 90 per cent of cases, “the aboriginal people win,” he adds. “The direction from the Supreme Court of Canada has been fairly clear — resolve these things, resolve these things with the aboriginal people. . . . You have to work with First Nations.” The drawn-out process is also “a tragedy for [First Nations] communities,” says McRobert. Even when the parties reach a deal and the communities have to pay 10 per cent of their settlement to lawyers, “that’s money not spent on education,” he adds. It is also worth keeping in mind that it was still illegal when I was born to raise funds for lawsuits for First Nations communities. So we have a giant backlog for justice, in a context where the Canadian and provincial governments just argued at the Williams hearings at the Supreme Court of Canada that it would be a nightmare to recognize their obligations (paraphrasing), and the feds are spending taxpayer dollars (and whatever other revenues-- id like to know how much comes from royalties from the very extractive industries that they are defending) to delay and outspend these cases along the way...... this is not reconciliation. This is the marriage of state and capital above human rights, above the very foundational documents that created the state to begin with. For all intents and purposes, the governments are hell bent on suppressing the constitutional rights of Indigenous Peoples for the interests of capital, which are argued to be the interests of Canadians. Doesnt that offend you? lawtimesnews/201311113587/headline-news/feds-pouring-big-money-into-aboriginal-litigation#
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 20:13:06 +0000
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