Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige condemns the federal government's inclusion of Indigenous legal settlements as a contributor to Canada's growing deficit, calling it a 'colonial mindset' and a 'deflection from reality'. She argues that the funds for settlements are not taxpayer dollars and represents a failure to acknowledge the Crown's responsibility to fulfill treaty obligations.
A political advocate for 39 First Nations in Ontario is taking the federal government to task for attributing a portion of Canada ’s looming $61.9-billion deficit to Indigenous legal claims.
Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige said the statement "harkened back to the colonial mindset to villainize First Nations for the Crown not paying the bills owed to them for rightful claims.” “It is not one of reconciliation but one of an adversarial process that we see playing out in this fall economic statement and in land claims and in addition-to-reserve processes.”
The agreements contained in the 1850 Robinson Huron and Robinson Superior treaties said the payments should increase over time as resources were developed on the land, so long as the Crown did not incur a loss. “The First Nations would not have to rely on the courts and out-of-court settlements if the Crown had been honourable in the first place,” Debassige said.
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