Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Feb. 3rd, 2026

[Ian Kenney]

There are many layers to the landless band definition, I have to say, but there are three recognized bands that we know of with no land at all. Qalipu is one, as well as New Westminster in British Columbia and Wolf Lake, I believe, in Quebec.

There are other recognized bands, speaking, again, about recognized bands under the Indian Act, other first nations who do have some land, who have purchased their own fee simple land and are seeking economic development opportunities on those lands. Again, the restriction there would be that they wouldn't have the benefit of some of the provisions of the Indian Act if it's not declared a reserve.

There are a few layers of what a landless band might be, but that's generally the shape that we see right now.

[Jaime Battiste, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso—Antigonish, NS]

If there are only three that we recognize, I wonder if this is a problem for, I've heard of other communities saying that throughout their history, there have been a lot of problems. Let me use the Nova Scotia example. In the 1940s, there were 47 different areas where Mi'kmaq resided. During the 1940s, they created a centralization movement with the province and the federal government that took those 47 different communities and said that they were going to centralize them to two. There was an attempt during that time to remove all of the different areas. After 1960, there remained only 13 communities who were recognized by the federal government.

I've had people come to me and say, “There was a first nation reserve here, a first nation reserve here, a first nation reserve here” in Nova Scotia, but they have very loose ties to the ancestors of those communities and are saying that they should be recognized as a band.

How do we ensure that we look out for the abuses of those who would try to profit from something with their very loose ancestral connections to areas that used to have first nation communities?

[Ian Kenney]

The policy that we work under for the recognition of new bands can actually be fairly lengthy as well, because there is a fair amount of historical research that's done to trace individuals back to that community.

We work closely with CIRNAC on that doing historical research, but a large amount of time is dedicated to making sure that the people who will be considered the founding members of a new first nation, or registered, if it's a case of individuals who are already registered as status Indians, making sure that the connections with that particular community are in place. That is a major part of the work that's done currently.

[Jaime Battiste, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso—Antigonish, NS]

In that work, do you also reach out to the current recognized tribes or recognized bands within those areas for their input as well? I ask because a lot of times they'll say that they have no idea who these people are who are now claiming to be their family members. I'm wondering what the connection is there and what the process is.

[Ian Kenney]

Yes, that is part of the work, reaching out to neighbouring communities, neighbouring first nations, a newly recognized band who might have members living elsewhere among other first nations, for example. Part of the work does reach out to them to make sure they understand the process that's happening and the implications for their own community.

[Jaime Battiste, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso—Antigonish, NS]

Okay.

I'm good, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Sheehan]

Mr. Lemire, you have six minutes.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First of all, it is quite moving for me to be here with you today. As you know, I have been assigned elsewhere, but I want to take the time to thank everyone around the table. The Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Northern Affairs has been a rather exceptional committee for me over the past two years. There was a great deal of collaboration, particularly with Mr. Schmale and Mr. Battiste, whose first names I will no longer confuse.

I am, of course, thinking of John Aldag, as well as all the other participants we had, including the analysts and clerks, whom I sincerely thank. Of course, I am also thinking of all the indigenous partners who participated in our work.

This study was not a coincidence. It is close to my heart. It is an election commitment because, in my opinion, there is major inequity between communities that have reserve status and those that do not. Back home we feel that the process was accelerated and then suddenly stopped in the 1970s.

The communities that were able to sign agreements before 1970 are quite prosperous there. As for the others, they seem to have had difficulty obtaining the same privileges. “Privileges” may be the wrong word, so let’s talk instead about the same organizational resources as others. My goal is to understand, to raise awareness, to invite you to give priority, for the sake of fairness, to these communities, some of which will testify during the second hour. We therefore need to promote channels of negotiation and dialogue to achieve this.

My first question is for Ms. Bess or Ms. White from the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations.

Is the granting of reserve status a legal obligation for the federal government, or is it a discretionary or political decision?

[Darlene Bess]

I think that would be a question for my colleagues at Indigenous Services Canada.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

That’s fine.

[Laura Mitchell]

Are you talking about the actual creation of the land, creating a reserve, or the recognition of the nation?

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

It’s a bit of both, in the sense that I wonder what makes one community obtain reserve status and resources while another does not. Is it a political decision made by the minister or the department? If so, who is blocking the process? If it is a legal decision, should communities such as Wolf Lake or Long Point go through the courts to advance their rights? Is that the solution?

[Danielle White, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Treaties and Aboriginal Government, Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs]

If I may, it depends on the community’s situation. In some cases, we have land claim negotiations that begin with a dispute or a claim with the department. The negotiation process applies to a community’s land base. That could be a reserve.

In other cases, such as a community located north of the 60th parallel, there has never been a reserve. We have negotiated detailed claims to establish a land base for these nations. This is part of the rights provided for in section 35 of the Constitution, which include a right of access to the land. However, the process may differ depending on the circumstances.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Too often, we see these communities unable to set long-term, short-term and medium-term goals. This is often associated with a lack of commitment on the part of the federal government. It is up to the federal government to decide whether or not to follow up or hold a meeting, and this is often the case for both the minister and the department.

In addition, there are changes in government. What we are talking about is a perspective. We can look at the last 60 years. There have been changes in government, changes in philosophy, changes in ministers. We know that there have been many such changes in recent years in the various departments associated with indigenous communities. Every year, every time, the process has to start all over again.

I was very pleased to hear that a serious process was planned for this spring and that there is a willingness to propose solutions. However, what does this mean for the government? What are the commitments? Has the minister identified a priority? Are there concrete timelines? Will funds also be allocated to these bands or communities to help them finance these very costly initiatives?

[Darlene Bess]

I can answer that question.

I would say that yes, this is definitely a priority of our minister. We meet with our minister every week to provide status updates on where we are not just on the policy, but on some of the other ideas that we have to expedite the process. It's definitely a priority. There are some deadlines associated with that.

There is a lot of follow-up from our deputy minister and our minister as communities reach out, but there's even follow-up when we haven't heard anything in a while. For instance, with Wolf Lake, which is one that you're talking about, we are in the process of following up to find out what their status is on their additions to reserve submission.

Laura and I are actively looking at the aging of our additions to reserve and those that have been outstanding for a long time to try to get to the root of the problem of what the issues are, and we're working with first nations communities.

I'll pass it to Laura to provide a bit more information.

[Laura Mitchell]

I can't speak to the process to recognize a nation, but once a nation is recognized, it's a proposal-driven process to access and add land to its reserve base. Some of the interim changes that were made make that easier for landless bands.

There is funding available. In 2021, there was funding set aside specifically to try to expedite the creation of additions to reserve funding. A lot of that went to supporting regional people to be able to work directly with nations to be able to advance those projects. We've also set aside money for nations to do things like surveys, environmental site assessments and all the things you need to do to bring land into reserve status.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you. Meegwetch.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Sheehan]

Thank you very much.

We'll go to MP Morin for five minutes.

[Billy Morin, Conservative, Edmonton Northwest, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to our public servants for coming today.

I might jump all over the road a bit. In reading some of the material to prep, I saw a statistic that said in spring of last year, I think it was from January to March, there were approximately 35 additions to reserve created. Is that correct? That's actually pretty good, in my opinion. I didn't realize it was that high.

A subsequent question is, how many have been completed since then? Is there a goal or milestone of the department to execute them? Of course, I think the department and the political bodies at will would agree that streamlining additions to reserve has become a priority, as you've indicated in your testimony.

Is there a goal to execute even more, and what are those goals?

[Laura Mitchell]

Candidly, our goal is as many as possible. We know how much this is a priority for nations and a priority for our minister.

This year, I think we're only at 36. That's one since your last statistic.

It is proposal driven. Because of that, we can't predict the complexity of the kind of ATRs that will come in. As you can appreciate, an urban reserve creation is so much more complex and ends up taking a lot longer than it does if it's in a rural place and there are very few municipal services or those things that are implicated.

I know that partners would very much like us to commit to timelines around doing this in a certain amount of time. My hesitancy around that is, as the previous questioner posed, that we just can't make a unilateral yes, because there are other parties implicated. Also, because there are other parties implicated, committing to service standards that we are not unilaterally in control of presents pretty serious challenges.

Our job is to be the convenor and to get out to those people and have conversations with municipalities and provinces and educate them, too, about what a reserve creation might look like in their municipality. There are a lot of examples of really great partnerships between nations and municipalities, where they both see benefit to doing this. We want to spread that good word and, hopefully, that will help to expedite some of these things as well.

[Billy Morin, Conservative, Edmonton Northwest, AB]

Looking back a bit, would you say there was political will to move 30 or 35 within a three-month span, as opposed to one in the last several months? Did that help?

[Laura Mitchell]

I'm sorry. I think the 35 is in fiscal year to date, so it's not January to March. My apologies. No, no. That would have been from April 1 of last year to January of this year, that number.

[Billy Morin, Conservative, Edmonton Northwest, AB]

I think other provinces, aside from Alberta, have been pretty successful in urban reserves, with Saskatchewan, I think, being probably the most prominent one.

You don't have to name names if it's out of line, but are you aware of the first nations that are applying? Are there any applications for Edmonton or Calgary currently under way?

[Laura Mitchell]

I wouldn't be able to tell you off the top of my head. I can look into that and come back to you.

I do know that both Edmonton and Calgary have followed up with my director of lands administration to have conversations about the additions to reserve process and creating urban reserves. There is interest. I don't know if there are any applications. I will have to look into that.

[Billy Morin, Conservative, Edmonton Northwest, AB]

Thank you.

The Saskatchewan treaty land entitlement I think has been a success, by all indications. No project is ever completely perfect, but as far as I know, from an indigenous perspective, from a federal government perspective and from a provincial perspective, that TLE Saskatchewan program has actually been pretty successful since 1992.

Of course, it's bringing the province on board as well when it comes to administering and adding additions to reserve. I don't know if it's creating new reserves, but it's adding additions to reserves.

Can you give me your personal experience with that particular process? Would it be beneficial for other provinces?