Aboriginal Rights
and Title : Specific Claims
Policy
In 1973 the Federal
government developed the Specific Claims
policy
that was later published as Outstanding Business: A Native Claims
Policy in 1982. Specific Claims were limited to claims about the
Federal administration of land. The policy was intended to eliminate
some barriers to negotiating cut-off claims and settlements; it was not
an apology or an admission of legal liability. According to Specific
Claims in Canada Status Report, 1985, final settlements had been
reached with 82 to 84 Bands.
The McKenna
McBride grievances had been important in the shaping of the Specific
Claims process, however, since the legislation of 1996, unresolved
McKenna McBride claims are considered apart from the Specific Claims
process.
Comprehensive
Claims
A
Federal Comprehensive
Claims policy initiating
the Comprehensive Claims process was implemented in 1973. The
Comprehensive Claims policy was supposed to address Aboriginal people's
traditional jurisdiction over land and resources. From the Federal
government's standpoint, Comprehensive Claims showed the government's
willingness to listen to First Nations' grievances about issues of
Aboriginal Title and Rights by negotiating claims based on traditional
use and occupancy.
The Provincial
government of British Columbia was
not initially part of Comprehensive claims discussions. Although
British Columbia entered negotiations with the development of the
British Columbia Treaty Commission in 1992, the province was not
willing to recognize Aboriginal Title until after 1997. The province's
approach to Aboriginal Title changed after the 1997 Delgamuuk'w
decision.
An ongoing point of
contention in the
Comprehensive Claims process is that the Federal and Provincial
government will only come to the negotiating tables if Aboriginal
communities are willing to extinguish their land Title in treaties. The
general response from the Aboriginal communities has been that
extinguishments of Title is not an option - that this formula for
treaty negotiation would destroy the goals of co-existence by
eliminating Aboriginal sovereignty and culture.
While there is
general agreement amongst First
Nations to protect Aboriginal sovereignty and culture, communities have
chosen to deal with the situation in different ways. Some Nations have
been willing to enter into negotiations with the government in good
faith, while others refuse. In the past eighty years, since the end of
the McKenna McBride Commission, trust has yet to be established between
First Nations and the Federal/Provincial governments.
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