OTTAWA (Staff) — Negotiations over how Ottawa should compensate Saskatchewan rural municipalities for tax revenue loss because of native land claims settlements are “back on track,” says a rural municipalities spokesman.
Sinclair Harrison, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), last week met three officials from the federal Indian Affairs department.
This week in Saskatoon, SARM leaders meet representatives of urban governments and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations to discuss the issue.
Harrison said federal officials have indicated that once the Saskatchewan groups have agreed, Ottawa will be willing to open up talks again.
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“We just wanted to get the negotiations back on track,” Harrison said after the Ottawa meeting. “With the new government, I think we have.”
SARM wants Ottawa to pay compensation into a fund whenever rural land is purchased by natives after a specific land claim settlement. Once the land is purchased and incorporated into a reserve, RM taxes cease.
SARM estimates the loss could be $7-$8 million over the years. If Ottawa put that much money into a trust fund, the annual interest could be distributed to municipalities in lieu of taxes.
When a comprehensive treaty land entitlement deal was signed in 1992, Ottawa put $25 million into a fund as compensation to municipalities that lost taxable land.
The issue now is revenue lost by the piecemeal purchases of land by bands winning specific settlements.
Estimates of the amount of land that could change hands range as high as 250,000 acres, although it will depend on what the natives do with their money and whether landowners are willing to sell.
Harrison said the frustration stems from two agreements with the former Conservative government, neither of which has been honored.
SARM has threatened to sue the federal government if the issue cannot be decided by negotiation.
