Ontario First Nations win $10-billion windfall — but it comes with a dilemma
A line of people stretched outside the Multi-Educational Centre at Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation, once known as the Spanish River Indian Reserve, on the north shore of Lake Huron between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on June 29.
A representative of Indigenous Services Canada handed each person two toonies. The $4 payment dates back to 1850, when the ancestors of Indigenous people who live on Canada’s side of Lake Huron, known as the Anishnawbe, signed a treaty with William Robinson, a former fur trader who represented the Crown for the colony of Upper Canada.
At the time, they agreed to allow logging, mining and settlement in their watershed, with compensation fixed at $1.70 per person in the communities affected. The annual payout increased once — to $4. Since then, resource companies have extracted a great deal of nickel, copper, uranium, lumber and fish from the region and thousands of settlers have moved in. But the payout stayed at $4.
Sick of tokenism, 21 First Nations, descendants of the signatories of the 1850 deal, sued in 2012. After several court victories, these First Nations are now in line for a bigger payout. Under an out-of-court deal negotiated last summer, Ottawa and Ontario have agreed to hand over $10 billion. The money, set to flow early in the new year, is the biggest treaty settlement in Canada’s history.
Understandably, there is excitement in the communities that stand to benefit, but also rumours and tension. Some members want a cheque, also known as per capital distribution (PCD): about $286,000 for each of the roughly 35,000 Indigenous people. But many local leaders believe a smarter path would be to invest the proceeds for the long-term benefit of the community and its future
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