SASKATOON (Staff) – Rural communities and Indian bands must learn to be good neighbors or problems could smolder for decades, a number of speakers at the Saskatchewan Conservation and Development Authority said.
“It’s taken the First Nations this long to get their treaty entitlements, if we were going to deal with the federal government … is it going to take us 100 years to get settled too?” asked Moose Range conservation and development authority member Ron Alton.
“If we’re going to have to wait 100 years to get some of these thing settled, well I think we better get down to the table and talk to our First Indian Nations people and see the concerns they have and the concerns we have and see if there’s some compromise,” Alton said.
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The Treaty Land Entitlement agreement was a hot topic at the organization’s annual meeting. While various legal methods of arranging maintenance and funding of local drainage systems with local Indian bands were discussed and the clashing positions of the federal and provincial governments were outlined, a common observation was that local farmers and Indians may be in the best situations to sort out local agreements.
“The two of you may be able to come to a better deal and a more workable arrangement than anything that can be worked out with the provincial and federal governments,” said provincial justice department lawyer Mitch McAdam.
Added Alton: “I think it would be very slack on our part not to defend ourselves and go through the same procedures our First Indian Nations did.”
Nick Postnikoff, who has represented the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities in negotiations with federal, provincial and Indian governments, said not to expect a speedy solution.
“It isn’t going to be fast. You don’t resolve 100 years of problems in 10 years or five years. It’s going to take time.”
