Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, members of the committee.
It is a pleasure to be here, and I thank the committee for the opportunity to contribute to its study of the Specific Claims Tribunal process and the process for addressing specific claims with a value above $150 million. I am hoping that my colleague, Anik Dupont, will join us shortly.
I have a brief opening statement, after which we would be happy to answer any questions the committee may have.
As you are aware, the specific claims process is a dispute resolution option available to first nations as an alternative to litigation. The primary objective of the process is to discharge outstanding lawful obligations to first nations through negotiated settlement agreements.
The Prime Minister announced the Justice at Last initiative in June 2007. This initiative launched a fundamental reform of the specific claims process and was intended to correct a perceived conflict of interest in the process where the government both assessed and decided the disposition of claims. Justice at Last was also meant to correct process deficiencies that had, over time, led to the accumulation of a large backlog of unresolved claims.
The cornerstone of the Justice at Last initiative was the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, a federal statute jointly developed with the Assembly of First Nations and pursuant to which the Specific Claims Tribunal was created. The tribunal is fully independent from the government. It has the authority to make binding decisions with respect to the validity of specific claims and to make financial awards up to a maximum of $150 million. The tribunal resolves concerns about the perceived conflict of interest in the process.
The tribunal will provide first nations with a final and binding decision with respect to the resolution of their grievances when it has not been possible to reach a negotiated settlement. The tribunal offers a final step in the alternative dispute resolution process.
As an independent body, the Specific Claims Tribunal is responsible for developing its own rules and procedure. The Government of Canada provided comments on the draft rules of practice and procedure that were made available by the tribunal and participated in a meeting of the rules advisory committee that was convened by the chairperson of the tribunal in October. I'll defer further comment on the tribunal to my colleague from the Ministry of Justice.
The specific claims policy and process was not designed to deal with exceptionally large-value claims. The Justice at Last initiative recognized that specific claims valued at more than $150 million involve a level of complexity and fiscal significance that warrants a different type of consideration. The process for addressing large-value claims is essentially the cabinet process. Claims valued at over $150 million require the minister to obtain a discrete mandate prior to being accepted for negotiation.
With respect to potentially large-value claims that were accepted for negotiation prior to Justice at Last, discussions with first nations continue. I want to emphasize at this point that there are very few large-value claims. A careful review of our inventory of specific claims reveals no claims with a potential value over $150 million other than those currently in the process.
In keeping with the November 2007 political agreement between the Government of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations, senior officials from the department met with representatives of the Assembly of First Nations to discuss the large-value claims process on a number of occasions during 2009, and also participated in a think tank on the subject sponsored by the AFN.
The views of the AFN, of first nations, and of their legal representatives are well understood by the Government of Canada.
Funding for the settlement of specific claims and awards made by the tribunal is accessed through the $2.5 billion specific claims settlement fund. This was established as part of the Justice at Last initiative. The settlement of large-value claims, that is, claims over $150 million, is not sourced from the settlement fund, but rather from the fiscal framework.
In closing, I would like to provide you with a summary of the progress being made to resolve the backlog of claims that had accumulated prior to the Justice at Last initiative. As of October 16, 2008, when the Specific Claims Tribunal Act came into force, a total of 541 claims were under assessment and a further 144 claims under negotiation. By February 15 of this year, 2011, the backlog of claims under assessment had been reduced to 270 claims and the backlog of claims remaining in negotiations totalled 90.
As you are aware, the Specific Claims Tribunal sets out three-year timeframes for the assessment and negotiation respectively of specific claims. There is every expectation that by October 16, 2011, the minister will have advised all first nations with backlog claims in the assessment stage of the specific claims process of a decision on whether to accept their claims for negotiation. Plans are also in place to ensure that tables that are nearing completion are appropriately mandated to secure settlement agreements.
Since April 1, 2010, this fiscal year, 12 specific claims have been settled at a value of almost $507 million, which is the most money that's been paid out in a single fiscal year since the inception of the policy.
While significant progress has been made, a great deal of work remains to be done, and we expect the coming year to be very busy before the middle of October of this year. We will be continuing to strive to address the backlog of claims and maintain an efficient, effective, and fair process to respond to and resolve new claims.
Thank you very much for your time. I welcome the opportunity to respond to any questions you may have.