A northwestern Ontario First Nation community is finally being compensated by the federal and provincial governments for unauthorized flooding of its reserve that took place at the turn of the last century.
Mitaanjigamiing First Nation will receive a combined $84.45 million from the two levels of government.
The news was delivered this week by Mitaanijigaming First Nation Chief Janice Henderson, Jaime Battiste, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, and the Greg Rickford, Ontario minister of Indigenous affairs.
The claim was filed in 1994 in response to the unauthorized flooding of reserve land due to the building of a dam across the Rainy River at Fort Frances-International Falls in the early 1900s. The dam has continued to cause ongoing flooding on Mitaanjigamiing First Nation land. The claim was accepted for negotiation by Ontario in 2003 and by Canada in 2009.
With a population of 140, Mitaanjigamiing First Nation is located 70 kilometres north of Fort Frances.
"After many years of negotiations, I am very pleased to state that a former long outstanding Chief, the late Allan Henderson Sr.'s vision was to file these claims for our future generations,” said Chief Janice Henderson in a news release. “This flood claim, along with the settlement of our treaty land entitlement claim in 2018 and the Loss of Use Claim in 1990, will provide prosperity for our children and youth today and for our future generations. Acknowledgements also need to be made to Canada and Ontario who worked with our negotiating team and past councils in the successful resolution of this claim."
"The successful resolution of this settlement marks an important step for Canada’s relationship with Mitaanjigamiing First Nation. Today, we acknowledge Canada’s failure to protect the community’s lands and reiterate our commitment to rebuilding the broken trust,” said Battiste in a statement.
“This is an important step that will help strengthen Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations in Northwestern Ontario,” said Marcus Powlowski, MP for Thunder Bay—Rainy River.
Provincial Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford said the settlement is a result of “respectful and meaningful negotiation. It demonstrates Ontario’s commitment to rectifying historical wrongs and moving forward together on the path of reconciliation."
