Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 09/99) - Only six months after its first membership meeting, Smith Landing First Nation of Fort Fitzgerald, Alta., has signed a memorandum of intent (MOI) with Canada, the province of Alberta and Parks Canada, to establish a 8800-hectare reserve just south of the NWT border.

Michelle Snyder, communications officer with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (DIAND), said the reason for the quick settlement is due largely to the groundwork laid by the band before going into negotiations.

"It all depends on how much research and preparation has been done when they go to the table," Snyder said. "That's why this has moved so much faster. They're very organized."

The draft outlines the proposed settlement, which includes an undisclosed cash settlement as well as lands in Alberta and Wood Buffalo National Park, she said.

"The MOI is a tentative agreement on the creation of a 21,500-acre (8600-hectare) reserve around Fort Fitzgerald," Snyder said. "There are three small parcels of land in Wood Buffalo National Park," she said.

Some of the land in the park is around Pine Lake and Garden River.

"The total lands in the park are 2,500 acres (1000 hectares)."

From the MOI the process involves information sessions, followed by a settlement agreement, Snyder said.

"The absolute next step is (the Department of) Parks will have an open house," she said. "From the MOI they need to develop a settlement agreement which in itself is a lot more comprehensive. Then that has to be ratified by the band by a vote of 50 per cent plus one."

Following the band members' agreement, the settlement must be approved by various levels of government.

"It has to get Alberta government approval and it has to get federal cabinet and treasury board approval," she said.

The government has recently affirmed its commitment to aboriginal people regarding land use in and around the park, Snyder said.

"The minister of Heritage Canada (Sheila Copps) agreed to consider treaty entitlement in Wood Buffalo National Park," Snyder said. "The reason given was that because the First Nations people had requested the land be set aside for Indian reserve before the park was created in 1922."

Starting today, Wood Buffalo National Park will be offering information sessions in five communities around the park.

Superintendent of Wood Buffalo National Park, Peter Lamb, said the meetings are part of the park's obligation to the agreement process.

"The MOI deals with some lands selected within the park, so what we're doing is going into the five communities that have an interest in Wood Buffalo National Park," Lamb said.

"The meeting Monday (Aug. 9) in Fort Smith will be the official public release of the draft document," he said. "We'll have the two chief negotiators on hand to answer any questions people may have about the proposal," he said.

There will also be a meeting in High Level, Alta., Lamb said, because the Cree Nation also has interest in the lands within the park.

"Little Red River Cree Nation includes Garden River, which is a small community in the southwest part of the park," Lamb said.

The park information seminars will take place in Fort Smith on Monday, Aug. 9; Fort Chipewyan on Tuesday, Aug. 10; Wednesday, Aug. 11, in High Level and Hay River and Thursday, Aug. 12, in Fort Resolution.