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Negotiation Process

There are four steps to negotiating a land claim:

1. Submission of claim
2. Assessment
3. Negotiation
4. Settlement and Implementation

A written statement setting out the claim with supporting historical and other documentation is submitted by the Aboriginal community. Most often, a First Nation submits a statement to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs or to Ontario's Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs.

Ontario consults with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to determine if the federal government has received the claim and the status of the federal review of the claim.

The Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs conducts an initial analysis of the land claim documents submitted by the Aboriginal community.

Ontario conducts its own historical research to address issues that are relevant to the review of the claim.

When the historical research is complete, a legal review is conducted. The ministry consults with other Ontario ministries to determine what interests may be affected by the claim.

Once the reviews are completed, the province decides whether to accept the claim for negotiation.

If the claim is accepted, a letter is sent to the Aboriginal community advising that Ontario is prepared to enter into negotiations.

Then, Ontario and the Aboriginal community establish their negotiating teams. As a general rule, negotiations do not begin until the federal government has completed its own review of the claim and has accepted the claim for negotiation.

Throughout the negotiations, Ontario, the federal government and the Aboriginal community outline and share with each other the interests that each want to address in resolving the claim and the ways in which this might be done.

Public consultations are held to get input from potentially affected interests and to identify issues and concerns that may need to be considered before reaching a settlement.

At the start of negotiations, negotiating parties usually develop a negotiation framework agreement. This agreement addresses process matters such as:

• The issues to be addressed in the negotiation.
• Negotiation timeframes.
• Funding to the Aboriginal community to support its participation in the negotiations.
• Public involvement processes and/or communications.

During talks leading to a negotiation framework agreement, the parties may:

• Prepare a work plan and budget to support the Aboriginal community's participation in the negotiation process.
• Make cost-sharing arrangements.

The parties may agree to conduct studies to help determine the size and scope of the claim settlement. The kinds of studies that may be helpful to the parties include:

• Land appraisals — To determine the financial value of the lands under the claim.
• Loss of use studies — To help the negotiating parties assess the impact on the Aboriginal community of value of its lost opportunities to use the claimed lands, such as for forestry, mining, etc.
• Hydrological studies — To help assess the extent of flooding on claimed lands and its effects.

If, as part of a proposed claim settlement, lands are to be transferred to the federal government, usually to be set apart as a reserve, the federal government will conduct an environmental site assessment of those lands to ensure that the lands are in a good environmental state.

During negotiations, the negotiators agree on the general issues arising from the claim and the elements of the settlement of the claim. They may sign an agreement-in-principle which sets out the general elements of a settlement.

Negotiators for Ontario, the Aboriginal community and the federal government work together to develop the final agreement and an implementation plan that describes how the final agreement will be carried out.

After the final agreement is ratified by each of the parties, a ceremony is often held to celebrate the settlement of the claim and the signing of the final agreement. Then, the parties begin to implement the agreement and monitor its progress.

The settlement usually involves the provision of compensation to the Aboriginal community in the form of lands or money which may be used for economic development or other initiatives.

Any financial compensation that is to be paid by the provincial government is usually paid shortly after the settlement agreement is signed.

If the final agreement provides for additional reserve lands, Ontario will transfer the settlement lands to the federal government so that they can be set apart as reserve lands for the Aboriginal community.

In these cases, the lands are surveyed and any environmental concerns on the lands are identified and addressed. The lands are then transferred from Ontario to the federal government, and the federal government sets the lands apart as reserve lands. Some Aboriginal communities opt to hold the settlement lands, or part of them, in fee simple rather than have them added to their reserve.

After Canada has set the settlement lands apart as a reserve for the Aboriginal community, any arrangements that have been negotiated by the parties to continue third-party uses of the lands are put in place. For example, these arrangements may include:

• Permitting property owners to use existing routes across the settlement lands to access their property (e.g. a road to a cottage).
• Providing new arrangements for public utilities across the settlement lands (e.g. hydro transmission lines, natural gas pipelines).