Pays Plat First Nation - Land and Larger Land Base Negotiation Update

This fact sheet is provided as an update because consultations on the Pays Plat First Nation Land and Larger Land Base negotiations have been completed. The Pays Plat First Nation, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario signed an Agreement-in-Principle (AIP) in August, 2009 to add land to Pays Plat Reserve #51, pursuant to the 1991 Land and Larger Land Base (LLLB) Framework Agreement.

The AIP:

outlines the general elements agreed upon, and
establishes a basis upon which the negotiating parties will work together to conclude a final agreement.

The overall goal of this negotiation is to provide additional reserve land for the Pays Plat First Nation, which currently has a small reserve of 2.59 square kilometres. Should a final agreement be ratified, the result will be an expanded land base for the Pays Plat First Nation that will enable the First Nation to fulfill their community’s housing, economic development and other needs.

Map of AIP lands (PDF)

Agreement-in-Principle Reached

The negotiating parties have identified an area of Crown land suitable for addition to the reserve of the Pays Plat First Nation. This area totals approximately 16.5 square kilometres and is adjacent to the existing reserve. An additional one square kilometre (approximately) of Crown land could also be added to the reserve if the First Nation purchases three parcels of privately owned land immediately next to this additional area prior to the conclusion of a final agreement.

These lands were selected based on economic and social criteria. For example, some of the land is well suited to the construction of new housing and other community facilities. Other areas were selected because they present opportunities for future economic development initiatives that are linked to the provincial government's Great Lakes Heritage Coast initiative or the federal government's Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area initiative.

Background on the Land and Larger Land Base Framework Agreement

In 1991, six First Nations in the Robinson Superior Treaty area in northern Ontario signed the LLLB Framework Agreement with the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.

That agreement committed the parties to use their best efforts to negotiate and conclude agreements to provide either a reserve land base for landless signatory First Nations, or to expand the size of the existing reserves of signatory First Nations whose existing reserves were too small to accommodate their communities' housing, economic development and other needs. Pays Plat First Nation is one of the signatory First Nations seeking to expand its existing reserve.

Final agreements have been signed with two other First Nations under the LLLB Framework Agreement. They are:

Sand Point First Nation (Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek) in 2006, and
Lake Nipigon Ojibway First Nation (Animbiigoo Zaagiigan Anishinaabek) in 2005.

Public consultations on the proposed addition to Pays Plat Reserve were conducted between 1999 and 2007. The issues that were identified were resolved to the satisfaction of both the negotiating parties and the interested parties.

For more information, please contact:

Lise Hansen
Senior Negotiator
Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs
160 Bloor Street East, Suite 400
Toronto, ON M7A 2E6
Phone: 416-326-4765
Fax: 416-326-4017
Email: lise.hansen@ontario.ca