· Former Indian Affairs minister Jane Stewart had promised to re-create the specific claims process so the government would not get to decide which claims against it were legitimate and would not get to be judge and jury in the claims settlement process. After raising hopes for an independent claims tribunal, Stewart backed off saying the central agencies of government would not approve the proposed changes. She was replaced as minister shortly thereafter. Coincidentally, she is now the provincial negotiator on the Caledonia blockade.

One lane of Argyle St. in Caledonia was opened on May 16 to provide limited access to emergency and local traffic as a sign of good faith by Six Nations protesters. It will take some of the pressure off the most dangerous focal point for angry confrontation between townsfolk and members of the Native community there.

· The average cost in claims settlements per year is $5.2 million.
· The average cost of negotiations paid by Canada each year is $2.2 million.
· The annual cost of claims settlement is 1.01 to 1.45 per cent of annual GST revenues.
· The average annual cost of claims settlement is 1.05 to 1.5 per cent of projected annual corporate tax revenues.

The occupation of Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia, Ont. put Six Nations' land claims in the international spotlight in May.

In Geneva, Switzerland, the Lubicon Cree Nation gave up a couple of their precious minutes before the United Nations committee on economic, social and cultural rights to Six Nations' delegate Doreen Silversmith, who spoke about the unresolved land issues behind the occupation.
The report of the committee, which was examining Canada's performance under international conventions, was to be released on May 19 (after publication deadline).

· On Oct. 25, 1784, Sir Frederick Haldimand, the Captain General and Governor-in-Chief for Upper Canada, signed a deed for land in what would later become southern Ontario for the Five Nations. [Later Tuscarora joined to create the Six Nations.] The Haldimand deed assigned land "six miles deep" on both sides of the Grand River from its source in south-central Ontario to its mouth at Lake Erie. The Haldimand Tract originally covered 955,000 acres.

Dear Editor:
Would Mr. Patrick Brazeau be more specific by providing a list of the real and tangible things the Conservative Party has done for the off-reserve and the non-status population?

Dear Editor:
I'm writing you today because I wanted you to know I've visited your Web site page on the actor Jay Silverheels and was very interested to read all that I have. You see, my family has traced back as far as the late 1800s and came across information indicating Jay Silverheels is a cousin. So of course I love to read all I can get on Jay. It's awesome to know where I came from. Thank you for this site.

An open letter to Assembly of
First Nation Chief Phil Fontaine

I am writing this letter in regards to myself and perhaps hundreds, maybe thousands of other First Nations individuals and our plight. Our issue is as important and ever so parallel to that of the residential school legacy. We are the former First Nations foster care victims, many of whom are the victims of the 1950s big scoop, a program enacted by the government which was as racist as the department of Indian Affairs residential school program and the Indian Act itself.

Dear Editor:
I was very shocked and disturbed by Stephen Harper's Conservative government. It provides very little money for First Nation, Metis and Inuit people. The Conservatives have promised around $1 billion for Aboriginal people, which includes $450 million more for the improvement of water quality and housing on reserves, as well as to improve education outcomes and socio-economic conditions for Aboriginal women, children and families, and another $600 million for housing for urban and northern communities.

Dear Editor:
Re: Building a better Canada.