Dehcho First Nations threaten to sue over devolution cash
Legal advisors call land claim requirement for share
of resource revenues a 'blackmailing' tool
Andrew Livingstone
Northern News Services
Monday, April 27, 2015
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
The Dehcho First Nations want the money it says is owed from devolution and has demanded the territorial government fork it over.
Dehcho First Nations Grand Chief Herb Norwegien in his office in Liidlii Kue in 2014. Dehcho leaders' land claims negotiations with the territorial government stalled earlier this year over disagreements over the amount of land on the table, and the First Nation is now threatening to take the GNWT to court if it doesn't pay out the first round of post-devolution resource revenues. - NNSL file photo |
If the GNWT refuses, legal advisers to the regional First Nations group believe it has a solid court case.
At the last of a series of regional public meetings to update members on the status of Dehcho Process negotiations in Fort Simpson on April 15, the negotiating team brought to light, in its opinion, the use of devolution by the territorial government as a "blackmailing" tool to force an agreement by withholding resource royalty payments.
"They have no right to blackmail us into signing the devolution agreement and if there is money available as of April 1 to aboriginal groups, then we should get our share," said lead negotiator Georges Erasmus.
Dehcho First Nations and Akaitcho First Nations stand to lose out on $1 million and $500,000 respectively - their estimated share of the first round of post-devolution resource revenues - by not signing on to devolution by April 1.
Now that the date has passed, the process to join becomes more complicated as First Nations will be required to negotiate with both the federal and territorial governments rather than just the latter.
A letter was sent to Premier Bob McLeod and the territorial government by Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian requesting the $1 million be paid.
A response to the letter hasn't been received, however, Erasmus used strong language suggesting anything but a yes would force them to take the territorial government to court.
"If they don't send it to us, our legal advisers are telling us we have a number-one case to go to court and force them to give us the money," he said to an audience of 30 members.
The territorial government is working on a response to this letter, according to the premier's spokesperson Shaun Dean.
In a written response to questions to the Deh Cho Drum, the territorial government said it isn't "holding any resource revenues back" from the First Nation. However, the response seems to contradict this claim.
"Should the DFN sign on to devolution, the DFN would be entitled to a share of resource revenues from public land in the NWT," the e-mail response read.
At the core of its position, Dehcho First Nations legal counsel believes the territorial government is withholding money because the group, along with the Akaitcho, don't support the GNWT's agenda.
He claims the Dehcho are therefore being punished and bullied into making concessions on land claims agreements in order to gain access to resource royalty money.
"It's not reasonable they should be able to withhold money that is owed," said Chris Reid, head legal adviser to the negotiating team.
As part of the devolution agreement the territorial government agreed to share up to 25 per cent of its resource revenues with aboriginal governments.
Every First Nation has signed on except for Dehcho First Nations and Akaitcho, so the nearly $1.5 million from this past year's royalty haul won't be distributed to the two groups.
Instead the GNWT and its devolution partners will determine what happens to any amount of resource revenue collected last fiscal year that would have been available for aboriginal governments that have not signed on to devolution.
