Ottawa adds case workers

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The Department of Indian Affairs here in Ottawa is adding another 30 case workers to the 20 it already has working on entitlements under Bill C-31, but the

backlog of those asking to be included on Treaty lists continues to grow.

Since last summer's amendment to the Indian Act, an estimated 60,000 women

and the children and grandchildren of women who lost their Treaty rights have applied for treaty status under the Act.

Almost 9,000 have had their applications answered and most of those have been given Treaty status.

While DIA has been speeding up the processing of applications over the last few months, the shortage of manpower was really holding the process up.

While the processing of entitlement applications will speed up with the added staff, the head of the section handling the applications doesn't expect to have more handled than half the applications for status by this time next year.

While Debbie Jette says she is "distressed" by the backlog in applications, things are sure to improve; "There are only so many people who can apply for status and we're doing everything we can to speed things up; everything but sacrifice accuracy. You've got to remember, these are peoples' lives we're talking about."

To help speed things up, as well as adding 30 entitlement officer, staff have been given added training, are being all brought together in one office, and are getting computers.

For those who need to establish Treaty rights quickly, because of a medical or similar emergency, the system can be further speeded up. Anyone who can prove that there is an emergency, or who just want information on re-entitlement should call 1-800-567-9605. Since there is sometimes a problem getting through on this line from the western Peace River district, DIA also provides a second number: 1-800-567-9606.