Aboriginal Land Claims and Self –Government Agreements North of 60 – Why Should I Care? Garth L. Wallbridge General Counsel, Tlicho Investment CorporaEon Prospects North 2013 1 2 •  September 05, 2013 06:00 ET •  Canadian Zinc Receives Permits From Parks Canada For Prairie Creek Mine Access Road •  VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA—(Sept. 5, 2013) -‐ Canadian Zinc CorporaMon is very pleased to announce that Parks Canada has issued a Land Use Permit ("LUP") and Type "B" Water Licence ("WL") for the construcEon and operaEon of that part of the access road to the Prairie Creek Mine which passes through the Nahanni NaEonal Park Reserve ("NNPR"). 3 •  "Canadian Zinc also acknowledges the coopera4ve management rela4onship Parks Canada shares with the Dehcho First Na4ons in the management of Nahanni Na4onal Park Reserve," added Mr. Taylor. 4 Outline (1) The modern day land claim process. (2) SeXled claims in the three territories North of 60. (3) Pending, proposed, stalled (?) claims. (4) Why should we care? 5 (1) The modern day land claim process. 6 Q. What is a land claim? A.  It is a “modern day treaty”. Q. What’s a treaty, in this context? A.  Aboriginal people say an “internaEonal treaty” (hence First NaEons). (Federal/provincial/territorial governments dial that down somewhat but recognise, certainly with the help of the Supreme Court of Canada, that they are more than just agreements/contracts.) 7 Co-‐operaEon, not Conquest ABORIGINAL PEOPLES •  are the original inhabitants of Canada; •  entered into nation to nation treaties with Europeans to reconcile interests; •  did not engage in a war of conquest, thus retaining ownership of their lands and resources. 8 9 Q. What is a self-‐government agreement? A.  A process by which Aboriginal people take control over (many Aboriginal people would say take back) responsibility for delivering services: -‐  Housing -‐  EducaEon -‐  JusEce -‐  Social Services -‐  Natural Resource Management -‐  And much more… 10 -‐  There are hundreds of historic treaEes, most important ,arguably, are the numbered treaEes 1 though 11. -‐  A ﬁjy plus year hiatus 1921 through 1975. -‐  From 1921 -‐ Oil in Norman Wells (1919). -‐  To -‐ Hydro in Northern Quebec 1970s. -‐  James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement 1975. -‐  The Inuvialuit Final Agreement 1984. (two reasons) 11 The White Paper 1969.... •  was a Canadian policy proposal made by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his Minister of Indian Aﬀairs, Jean ChreEen. •  This paper would abolish the Indian Act. •  The federal government proposed that, by eliminaEng "Indian" as a disEnct legal status, equality among all Canadians would result. •  Harold Cardinal (Indian Assoc. of Alberta) referred to the white paper as "a thinly disguised programme of exterminaEon through assimilaEon". 12 (2) SeXled claims in the three territories North of 60. 13 1984 Inuvialuit (IFA) Northwest Territories, and Nunavut Land Claim SeSlement Areas 14 1984 Inuvialuit (IFA) 1992 Gwich’in Northwest Territories, and Nunavut Land Claim SeSlement Areas 15 1984 Inuvialuit (IFA) 1992 Gwich’in 1993 NTI Northwest Territories, and Nunavut Land Claim SeSlement Areas 16 1984 Inuvialuit (IFA) 1992 Gwich’in 1993 NTI 1994 Sahtu Northwest Territories, and Nunavut Land Claim SeSlement Areas 17 1984 Inuvialuit (IFA) 1992 Gwich’in 1993 NTI 1994 Sahtu 2005 Tlicho Diamonds (1985/1998) Northwest Territories, and Nunavut Land Claim SeSlement Areas 18 Yukon Umbrella Final Agreement 1993 Map © Council of Yukon First Nations (1) Champagne and Aishihik First NaMons (1995) (2) Teslin Tlingit Council (1995) (3) First NaMon of Nacho Nyak Dun (1995) (4) Vuntut Gwitchin First NaMon (1995) (5) LiSle Salmon/Carmacks First NaMon (1997) (6) Selkirk First NaMon (1997) (7) Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in (1998) (8) Ta’an Kwäch’än Council (2002) (9) Kluane First NaMon (2004) (10) Kwanlin Dün First NaMon (2005) (11) Carcross/Tagish First NaMon (2006) 19 (3) Pending, proposed, stalled (?) claims. 20 YUKON Ross River Dena Council White River First NaEon Liard First NaEon 21 What’s going on? The Dene living in the area, the Akaithco, entered into Treaty 8 with the Crown on July 25, 1900 at Deninu Kue. The Dene and the Crown do not have a shared understanding of the terms of that treaty…. The objecEve of negoEaEons is to come to an agreement that will clarify ownership and rights to lands and resources in the region and how they will be managed. It will also describe the structure, operaEon, legal status and extent of the Akaitcho government and will include measures to enhance the capacity of the Akaitcho to parEcipate fully in the economy. 22 What’s going on? Right now in the NWT, Canada is negoEaEng land and resource issues with three regional Aboriginal groups: Dehcho First NaEons, Akaitcho Dene First NaEons and the Northwest Territory MéEs NaEon. It is also involved in a community-‐based negoEaEon with the Dene and MéEs in the Fort Liard area. In addiEon, Canada is negoEaEng with three Aboriginal groups who reside in other provinces and territories, but who have claims that overlap into the NWT: the Athabasca Denesuline (Saskatchewan), the Manitoba Denesuline and the First NaEon of Nacho Nyak Dun (Yukon). 23 24 25 26 (4) Why should we care? 27 Why should we care? The Aboriginal people in seXled claim areas are landowners: Surface Lands Sub-‐surface Lands Inuvialuit 35,000 square miles of SeSlement Land Gwich'in 22,422 km2 in NWT and 1544 km2 in the Yukon 6156 km2 Sahtu 39,624 km2 Tlicho "Mtle in fee simple absolute to the beds of all lakes, rivers and other water bodies found in Inuvialuit lands." 1,813 km2 39,000 km2 * * condiMons apply These numbers total an area bigger than New Brunswick, 28 Nova ScoMa and PEI combined. Why should we care? -‐ Land and Water Boards under four seXled NWT Land Claim Agreements (may be merged) -‐ Nunavut Environmental Impact Review Board -‐ Wildlife Management Boards 29 Why should we care? 30 Why should we care? 31 2009 Tli Cho Logistics Why should we care? Skookum Jim Award This award recognizes Aboriginal achievements in the mineral industry. Recipients of this award will have demonstrated excepEonal achievement and/or service in an aboriginal-‐run service business for the Canadian mining industry. 2009 32 502 employees, 236 Tlicho TIC Consolidated Ethnicity NORTHERN 16% OTHER 16% OTHER ABORIGINAL 21% TLICHO 47% Nunavut’s biggest IIBA to date: what’s in it? •  NEWS: Nunavut September 08, 2013 •  QIA-‐Baﬃnland deal on the Mary River iron mine would pour millions of dollars into QIA’s coﬀers •  DAVID MURPHY •  The Qikiqtani Inuit AssociaEon dubbed it a “historic” moment when Tom Paddon, president and chief execuEve oﬃce of Baﬃnland Iron Mines Corp., and QIA president Okalik Eegeesiak ﬁnally signed the deals which will pave the way for the Mary River iron mine in northern Baﬃn Island Sept. 6. 34 Tom Paddon (lej,) president and chief execuEve oﬃcer of the Baﬃnland Iron Mines Corp. and Okalik Eegeesiak, president of the Qikiqtani Inuit AssociaEon, shake hands ajer they sign an Inuit impact and beneﬁt agreement and and commercial producEon lease Sept. 6 at the Discovery Lodge in Iqaluit for Baﬃnland's proposed Mary River iron mine project on northern Baﬃn Island. (PHOTO BY DAVID MURPHY) Nunatsiaq News 35 Prospects North 2013 Thank you. 36 Prospects North 2013 Garth L. Wallbridge General Counsel Tlicho Investment CorporaEon [email protected] (867) 446-‐3000 37