Standing up and taking a stand against robbery

Les Louttit, deputy grand chief of Nishinawbe Aski Nation (NAN), and Neskatanga Chief Peter Moonias aren’t holding their breath waiting for the province of Ontario to pay its tab.

On June 27, before he was elected as Ontario regional chief, NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy sent the Ontario government an invoice for $127million. The province was billed for benefits from natural resources extracted from NAN territories.

The amount was calculated over 100 years at today’s current values and represents only part of $3.2 billion owed.

The calculation was also based on the report Resource Revenue Sharing: The Billion Dollar Question by Dr. Fred Lazar of the Schulich School of Business. The report examines the estimated aggregate revenues collected by Ontario from NAN territories, and then estimates what treaties 3 and 9 communities should have received over the years from those revenues.

Lazar recommends, “If instead of demanding a lump sum payment of $3.2 billion for the revenues owing for the past 100 years, the NAN First Nations demand an annuity, the annual payments owing by the government of Ontario, based on a four per cent rate of interest, would be $127 million per year forever.”

Since the invoice was submitted, there’s been no word from the province. In a telephone interview July 4, Louttit said he wasn’t expecting an answer.

“We haven’t heard anything from the province, and we’ll likely not hear from them.”

Louttit said the invoice was handed in with a due date 30 days from when it was submitted. He said, “If the province doesn’t pay the bill, we’ll be charging two per cent interest every month it doesn’t pay.”

The invoice is well-timed with what’s been happening in the Ring of Fire area. Louttit said, “It’s another situation with government. They want to go full speed ahead with industry and Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper has proposed Bill C-38, which will accelerate the processes.”

“First Nations are calling for a joint environment review panel for the project there,” said Louttit They (government) wants to ram it down their throats.”

As far as activity in the Ring of Fire is concerned, First Nations there are fighting for control. Nickel and chromite deposits in the area have been compared to the oil sands in Alberta with respect to the economic potential. Ring of Fire First Nations have also put companies on notice that they’ll be evicted within 30 days if their demands for government-to-government negotiations aren’t respected and if the clause about Free, Informed and Prior Consent under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples isn’t met.

Neskatanga First Nation Chief Peter Moonias thinks NANs move to submit an invoice to the province is a good one.
“We’ve already lost so much money from resource extraction. Taxpayers think we’re begging, but they’re stealing from us.”

Moonias also said revenue sharing comes in many forms. For example, agreements for programs and infrastructure can be worked out as part of the revenue sharing.

In the span of a week since the invoice was submitted to the Ministry of Finance, the government passed the buck around. When an inquiry was made to the Ministry of Finance about the invoice, the ministry directed the inquiry to the Ministries of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development and Mines. The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines referred the matter to Aboriginal Affairs.

The Aboriginal Affairs Ministry responded with an email. It stated that while Minister Kathleen Wynne was unavailable for comment, the Ontario government is committed to working with First Nations and invests about $600 million annually through a number of ministries on programs and services throughout the province.  Spokesperson Flavio Mussio also wrote, “We are continuing our conversations with First Nations to ensure they can participate in and benefit from the development of the Ring of Fire. Resource revenue sharing will also be a key feature in these discussions between Ontario and First Nations.”

Mussio stated, “We haven’t received any communication from NAN on this matter. However, we are aware of NANs perspective.”

The deputy grand chief also thinks the Cliffs Natural Resource project in the Ring of Fire has to be delayed because “maximum benefits in all areas needs to happen, including financial compensation.” He also said the scope of that project is beyond imagination.

Cliffs Natural Resources announced its project in May. The company proposed to invest $3.3 billion dollars in the province. The company wants to build an open pit chromite mine in the Ring of Fire plus build a smelter plant over 1,500 km south of the project site.

For now, NAN will continue to send monthly invoices to the province with an interest rate that will amount to just over $2.5 million per month. Louttit added, “If you don’t take a stand, you perpetuate the robbery of the extraction of natural resources in the land by corporations and the province.”