Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Oct. 24th, 2023

[Jaime Battiste, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Thank you, Chief Bear, for bearing with us through that administrative discussion.

My question is this. You talked about where we are in terms of Saskatchewan and a lot of the numbered treaties. It is my understanding that while land was discussed, there was not a good translation done where the nations fully understood the English version of the treaties.

Is that your understanding of the treaties as well, the numbered treaties?

[Chief Shelley Bear]

Yes, it is.

As I said, I've spent a lot of time working and reviewing. Not only that, but I had the opportunity to be passed the oral history of my mosôm, Marlowe Kanowasquahum, who was raised by his grandfather, who was at the signing of Treaty No. 4. Chief Kakisiwew was the first signatory to Treaty No. 4. The first one to step up and touch the pen for the signing of Treaty No. 4 was my direct ancestor. A lot of that history has been passed on.

I worked for 16 years with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations. I spent a lot of time—I mentioned earlier the late chief Richard Poorman and the late chief Denton George. They were very strong. As for the late chief Irvin Starblanket, I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with him. Those were always the discussions that took place over the years when I had the opportunity to sit with him.

[Jaime Battiste, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Thank you for that.

We have heard the Office of the Treaty Commissioner in Saskatchewan talk about the treaty land entitlements and how they worked with first nations in Saskatchewan to try to give some of this land back. I'm wondering if you could tell us how you feel that process unfolded and what the successes or failures of that program were.

[Chief Shelley Bear]

Again, it goes back to the treaty and what our ancestors signed. Yes, we signed for land to be set aside. I actually shouldn't even be saying “set aside”. It was always our land. We had never given it up. It was land sectioned out for us, for our people to have posterity.

Today, unfortunately, we're in a case where Ochapowace's two treaty bands were amalgamated unilaterally by the Indian agent in 1881. Canada was found guilty of breach of treaty, so we're in the process of reconstituting one of those nations back to its original place.

When we look at the amount of land we have and we look at the survival of our population for the future, the amount of land we have is never going to be enough for our people when we move further into the future. That's what I go back to. It was meant to be for our future generations to prosper. I don't think that when they gave us 46,000 surveyed acres of land in 1876 or 1878, they knew that wasn't going to be enough land for our people to prosper.

We talk about the TLE. Yes, there have been problems with it. We are a TLE band here in Saskatchewan. We never received our “loss of use” for those lands over the years. We received enough to purchase back those acres of land that we weren't given rightfully under treaty. It makes things hard when you have the Saskatchewan government putting up Crown lands for auction, when we haven't even acquired our shortfall acres for treaty. That goes back again to the Saskatchewan First Act and what they're doing here in Saskatchewan.

With what's going on here, I don't know if we'll ever be able to achieve shortfall for our first nation here in Saskatchewan, the Kakisiwew and Chacachas treaty bands. In Saskatchewan, due to the policies they put in place, they can auction off Crown lands without any consultation whatsoever.

[Jaime Battiste, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Chief Bear, I think I have about a minute left.

A lot of the testimony we've heard so far talked about just what you're talking about, the future generations and how we can create prosperity within first nations communities. A lot of them have done really well with urban reserves and moving forward with economic development that creates capacity and growth.

Do you think this is something that should be done more in Saskatchewan?

[Chief Shelley Bear]

Yes. We do a lot of it in Saskatchewan. We have urban lands that have been transferred to treaty lands. I wouldn't say too urban; we're on the outskirts of Regina, just a couple of minutes out. We had the opportunity to purchase those lands back in the early 1990s. On those lands we have started businesses that our urban members or off-reserve members can enjoy.

At the end of the day, it's about sharing in these resources so that we can be equal and even more prosperous.

I don't think it was—

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Thank you, Chief Bear. I'm going to have to jump in. We're at the end of the six minutes, and I still have two members who need to get to their questions. Unfortunately, we have to stop there.

We now go to Mrs. Gill for six minutes.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to Mr. Roy and Ms. Bear for their participation.

Mr. Roy, I hope you'll be sending the committee your opening statement and perhaps a brief. As the chair mentioned, we would be very appreciative.

Ms. Bear, I'm interested in your comments. A few times, you talked about the barriers to land restitution, the time frames associated with the various programs and the impact on your first nation.

What are your recommendations for the committee when it comes to land restitution?

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Did we lose Chief Bear?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Vanessa Davies]

Yes, Chair, we have.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

I'm stopping the clock.

We've lost Chief Bear. That's the issue.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Chair, if I could, that just highlights the dynamics that so many rural and remote Canadians face when it comes to the Internet and connectivity. Certainly, it's emphasizing that those watching should note that this is an ongoing challenge that so many Canadians—the 10% of Canada that lives outside the urban centres—have to deal with on a regular basis. That's just a note for the many who do, because sometimes connectivity issues affect not only those who are trying to do basic things, like school and work, in small towns and remote villages, but also those who are trying to participate in Canada's political and parliamentary processes.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

You raise a very good point.

That gives me an opportunity to speak to the significant investments the government is making in increasing rural broadband across the country to make sure that all Canadians are connected. Thank you for the opportunity to raise that.

Madame Gill, do you have a point of order?

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Can we suspend until we get the technical issues fixed?

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

I was going to look and see.... That's a good idea. We'll suspend until we get the sound back.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

I call the meeting back to order.

Unfortunately, we've been unable to get Chief Bear back here, and because of this technical issue we are at the end of the meeting time. We're going to be moving into drafting instructions at this point.

I apologize to Madame Gill and Ms. Idlout, but we have no witness left online. We're going to end this portion of the meeting and move in camera for the next part of the meeting.

Ms. Idlout, you should have the new link for moving to the in camera meeting. We'll close off this public meeting, and we'll give you a minute to get into the new link and join us in camera.

Mr. Roy, thank you so much for sitting in with us today. I really apologize that things didn't work, and I think it raises the question of technology for many indigenous communities and rural areas, as Mr. Kurek mentioned. That's why our government is working on it.

With that, folks, we'll suspend, and we'll be back in camera in a few minutes.

[Proceedings continue in camera]