July 4, 2019

Dear Mr. Matiation,

The BC Specific Claims Working Group (BCSCWG) writes today to present its follow-up report Canada’s Conduct at the Specific Claims Tribunal and the Need for Reform which analyzes First Nations’ feedback on Canada’s behaviour at the Tribunal and argues that the challenges with Canada’s conduct at this body are a result of institutionalized and systemic bias that exists across specific claims processes as a whole.

Open Letter to Minister Carolyn Bennett
Canada’s Inaction on Late Specific Claims Assessments

May 2, 2019

Dear Minister Bennett,

We write today to present a follow-up report prepared by the BC Specific Claims Working Group (BCSCWG) on your government’s inaction on late specific claims assessments. In November 2018, the BCSCWG brought to your attention your department’s failure to meet its legislated timelines to assess specific claims and communicate effectively with Indigenous Nations. We urged you to take immediate, transparent action on the report’s recommendations and you have not done so. We reiterate our call to address the backlog of claims by implementing the recommendations put forward by the BCSCWG in both reports.

PRESS STATEMENT

 UBCIC Condemns Minister Bennett’s False Statements Regarding the “Joint Development” of a New Specific Claims Process   

(Coast Salish Territory – Vancouver, BC – December 4, 2018)

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs unequivocally denounces the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Minister Carolyn Bennett to the national media and to the chiefs gathered at a meeting of the Assembly of First Nations. Minister Bennett has falsely stated that the specific claims process is being “overhauled” in favour of a new regime that has been jointly developed by First Nations.

Open Letter to Minister Carolyn Bennett

Canada’s Failure to Meet the Legislated Three-Year Deadline to Respond to Specific Claims

The Honourable Carolyn Bennett
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs

November 26, 2018

Dear Minister Bennett,

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs writes today to present the enclosed report prepared by the BC Specific Claims Working Group on your government’s repeated failure to meet its legislated timelines to assess specific claims and notify Indigenous Nations, and to call on you to take immediate action on the report’s recommendations.

Dear Ministers Bennett and Wilson-Raybould,

We write today to call on you to demonstrate your government’s public commitments to transparency and the renewal of Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples by disclosing how Canada calculates its contingent liabilities regarding Indigenous Nations’ land claims – and by affirming your government’s intention to fulfill its outstanding lawful obligations to Indigenous Nations by fairly resolving these claims.

The Honourable Carolyn Bennett
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
[email protected]

July 6, 2018

Dear Minister Bennett,

On June 28, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister Joe Wild attended the UBCIC’s Chiefs Council meeting in Richmond, BC (xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm, Musqueam Territory). Mr. Wild assured the UBCIC Executive, member Chiefs, and delegates that you are committed to working towards an independent specific claims process. He also confirmed that you stressed the importance of developing an independent process to Prime Minster Trudeau at a recent “take stock” meeting, and that you strongly recommended submitting a memorandum to Cabinet in the fall seeking authority to move forward on developing this process with Indigenous Nations.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – June 25, 2018) UBCIC condemns the report on specific claims released on National Indigenous Peoples Day by conservative think tank the Fraser Institute.

In his report, Specific Claims and the Well-Being of First Nations, author Tom Flanagan argues that the federal specific claims program should be discontinued since, he asserts, settlements result in no tangible benefits to First Nations communities. Flanagan's report characterizes specific claims as a never-ending drain on the federal budget and Canadian taxpayers, and contends that Indigenous Nations manipulate facts and exploit case law to validate their claims.  

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, BC – February 2, 2018.) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs extends our warmest congratulations to the Williams Lake Indian Band in finally achieving justice for their Village Site Specific Claim after over a century of struggle. Today, the Supreme Court of Canada restored the 2014 decision of the Specific Claims Tribunal which ruled that Canada failed in its duty to protect the Williams Lake Indian Band’s ancestral village lands from pre-emption. The Court agreed that Canada’s failure contravened colonial law and that Canada had a fiduciary obligation to take appropriate measures to protect the village lands and remedy the loss.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – October 16, 2017) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs stands with the National Claims Research Directors in condemnation of Bill C-58, which will install massive new barriers for Indigenous Nations trying to access information for land claims and other purposes. The UBCIC supports the Directors’ call for the withdrawal of the bill and for full and meaningful engagement with Indigenous Nations regarding any legislative change on this issue. 

Dear Members of the Standing Committee,

Please accept this submission and attachments by the National Claims Research Directors pertaining to your review of Bill C-58, amendments to reform Canada’s Access to Information Act. Our submission outlines our grave concerns about the content of Bill C-58 and provides reasons why we strongly oppose the bill as currently drafted.