Liard First Nation and Ross River Dena Council Remission Order: SI/2020-15

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 154, Number 4

Registration

SI/2020-15 February 19, 2020

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT

Liard First Nation and Ross River Dena Council Remission Order

P.C. 2020-28 February 3, 2020

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, considering that it is in the public interest to do so, on the recommendation of the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and the Treasury Board, pursuant to subsection 23(2.1) footnote a of the Financial Administration Act footnote b, remits the following amounts:

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

Proposal

The Governor in Council is granting remission under subsection 23(2.1) of the Financial Administration Act to the Liard First Nation and the Ross River Dena Council in the Liard First Nation and Ross River Dena Council Remission Order for their outstanding debt in the amount of $25,638,694.87 for the principal and the interest payable on that principal stemming from the write-off of loans taken for the negotiation of their comprehensive land claim. This remission is being granted on the basis that doing so is in the public interest and will result in treating these two Indigenous groups the same as all other Indigenous groups negotiating a comprehensive land claim who have recently had their loan debt forgiven.

Objective

This Order will allow these Indigenous groups to clear the debt from their accounts and to be treated in the same manner as all of the other Indigenous groups, as well as remove an irritant, which will create more favourable conditions for these two groups to pursue, advance and eventually conclude negotiations.

Background

Comprehensive land claim negotiations are funded through the Negotiation Support Funding (NSF) Program. Loans were the primary means of funding until 2018, when they were replaced with non-repayable contributions. Funding supports Indigenous groups so they can negotiate on an equal footing with Canada. The funding provided pays for a variety of expenses, including, but not limited to, the fees of the chief negotiator and the team, legal counsel fees, administrative costs, as well as costs related to travel and accommodation, communication and community consultation, all of which being required for the successful conclusion of a comprehensive land claim.

The Comprehensive Land Claims Policy requires that the loans taken out for the negotiation of the claim be deducted from the financial compensation of the settled claim. As more time passes in the negotiation of the claim, more debt is accumulated, resulting in less and less net financial compensation being provided to the Indigenous groups.

Budget 2019 announced a reform to the NSF Program whereby all outstanding comprehensive land claim negotiation loan debts held by Indigenous groups would be forgiven and loans that had been repaid would be reimbursed back to the groups who had done so. In June 2019, the Treasury Board was authorized to forgive and reimburse all loans. The two groups in question had previously had their loans written off, but they were not included because an order in council is required for the remission of their loans.

Negotiations for the Liard First Nation and the Ross River Dena Council broke down in 2002, and it was determined that a successful conclusion of their comprehensive land claims was not possible. The Minister wrote to them in September 2002 advising that the negotiations had been discontinued. Because it was Canada who withdrew from the negotiations, it was determined that a write-off was the best course of action. This action removed the loans as recoverable from Canada’s accounts; however, they remained on the accounts of both groups. Under the current Comprehensive Land Claims Policy, should the two Indigenous groups return to the negotiations, the loans would become active again and would be required to be paid back upon settlement of their claims. This would not be the case with this remission, as their debt would be eliminated and would not need to be paid back.

Implications

The remission of the principal and interest of these loans will provide a resolution to the debts that have been sitting on the accounts of these two Indigenous groups, thereby improving their credit worthiness and providing the opportunity for them to return to the negotiation tables without the obligation to repay the loans upon completion of a final agreement.

Departmental contact

Marie-Christine Poirier
Manager
Fiscal Branch
Treaties and Aboriginal Government Sector
Telephone: 613‑608‑9691