Important Flood Claim Update
Click to image enlarge
Mar. 31, 2016

COMMUNIQUE

To: Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation Membership

From: Chief and Council

Date: March 31, 2016

Lac des Mille Lacs Specific Claim on Flooding - Reserve 22A1

PURPOSE

This communique serves to provide an update to the membership of the Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation on the status of our long outstanding flooding claim. It also provides an up-date on work that still requires completion prior to a referendum vote, by the membership, on the compensation package being offered by the Federal and Provincial Governments.

BACKGROUND

The Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation and the Federal and Provincial governments entered into negotiations in May 2009 in relation to the settlement of the First Nation’s Flooding Claim. There were 14 other First Nations that also entered into flood claim negotiations at this same time. It is important to mention that to date, none have been settled jointly with both the Federal and Provincial governments. Two claims have reached settlement solely with the Province.

Prior to the beginning of our first negotiation meeting in September 2009, the First Nation assembled our own negotiations team that included a renowned Historian, Appraiser, Economist, and Survey experts along with Legal Counsel.

At the very first meeting, we found the Federal government was of the opinion that our claim was really not worth very much and could possibly only amount to a couple hundred thousand dollars. Chief Whitecloud served them notice and stated, “Our people have been forced off of our lands for over half a century, endured countless, untold hardships and suffering due to the negligence of the government, and we will not settle for one penny less that what we believe our people should be compensated for…”

After seven years of unrelenting hard work at negotiations, research, and evidence assembled by our team, the final outcome has weighed in our favour, and will bring a positive ending to this chapter in our history.

UPDATE

This update is further to our Newsletter in the Fall of 2015 and our Communique of November 2015. Since those reports, after much lobbying with numerous Government Ministries, Ministers, and INAC officials, the Government of Canada returned to the negotiations table. These intense meetings occurred during the months of December 2015 and January 2016. We are very pleased to announce that both Canada and Ontario have finally presented a global offer for settlement of our Flooding Claim!Your Chief, Council and Negotiation Team members have done an excellent job and negotiated an agreement that they can recommend to the membership for settlement.

It is extremely important that the membership understands that the acceptance of the Flood Claim settlement package can and will only be decided by a vote of the membership. It is the opinion of Chief, Council and the entire Team that the proposed numbers are fair, and while we could never fully be compensated for our losses; the people have suffered long enough and wish to see a settlement.

Due to our Negotiations Protocol regarding Confidentiality, we currently are not at liberty to reveal the proposed compensation numbers. This will be presented to the membership in a Referendum package and discussed at our AGM. Our Negotiation team will be in attendance so that they can give their expert opinion and answer any questions regarding the settlement at that time. We are currently focusing our efforts on reaching consensus with both governments on the “Easement Agreement” and “Settlement Agreement” to bring the negotiations to a close.

We are pleased to report that the First Nation and Province have worked on and negotiated an “Easement Agreement.” This has now been sent to Canada for their acceptance. We anticipate a favourable response within the next few weeks.

This brings us to the drafting of the “Settlement Agreement,” which we hope to have finalized sometime during the month of May 2016. This is the last remaining document to be agreed upon before we can go to Referendum. We are hopeful and aiming to be able to go to Referendum in June 2016.

FINAL NEXT STEPS

1. Chief and Council continue to pressure the Federal Government to finalize their acceptance of the “Easement Agreement” as already agreed to by the Province and the First Nation.

2. Chief, Council and the Negotiation Team will determinedly continue with the drafting of the “Settlement Agreement” with the goal of bringing this document to conclusion in May 2016.

3. Preparing of the final “Referendum” package for the membership to vote on.

4. Trusts to be set up for children under the age of 18. If the membership accepts the proposed Flood Claim settlement in the Referendum vote, the Administration office will work diligently towards ensuring a timely payout.

It is of the utmost importance that those registered band members, who are 18 years of age and older, make certain of the following:

1. The Band Administration Office has your current and correct mailing address (Note: Please contact Honey Chicago - Receptionist, at your earliest opportunity regarding any address changes or to ensure your address is correct on our list at 807-622-9835 ext 221.)

2. Members must have a current bank account, opened in their name (Note: The actual monies paid out will be deposited directly in each of our band member’s accounts by the financial organization or firm tasked with the administration and distribution of the settlement funds.) Chief and Council thank you for your continued support and patience. It has been a very long, tiring process which has consumed much of our efforts. It is reasonable to say that we hope and look forward to seeing closure this summer as we continue on with the healing of our people and Nation. Chi Miigwetch.

For the most up-to-date and accurate news and information about LDMLFN, please visit the community website at https://www.lacdesmillelacsfirstnation.ca Note: Information on other sites may contain incorrect, false, or misleading information.

 

Oath of Confidentiality

As a member of Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation, I understand and agree that the following conditions shall apply to use of the "Members Only" section on the website www.lacdesmillelacsfirstnation.ca.

1. Any information, recorded or not, received or acquired in connection with the "Members Only" section of www.lacdesmillelacsfirstnation.ca is deemed confidential.

By clicking "Yes", I agree that I will not disclose any confidential information which comes into my possession through the "Members Only" section of the website; www.lacdesmillelacsfirstnation.ca.

Shall I decline to these terms, I will not be granted access to the "Members Only" section of www.lacdesmillelacsfirstnation.ca.

You will only need to agree to these terms the first time logging into the "Members Only" section, as a record will be kept stating your acceptance to this Oath of Confidentiality.

No

Forum Disclaimer

We invite Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation members to share in this website. This is our Code of Conduct for any posting or activity in relation to the Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation's website (www.lacdesmillelacsfirstnation.ca). We have created this website as a place where we can share news about Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation, our activities and events. We want our members to share their views and ideas and to enjoy their experience on this website. We encourage all activity that supports this aim but would like all users to observe the following terms and conditions.

When you post on the Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation Website, you agree that you will NOT publish, post, upload or submit any of the following:

  • Any material that infringes the copyright of any other person, or copyright material not referenced.
  • Any personal information of other users (names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses) without their permission.
  • Indecent or obscene language or images.
  • Any material that is abusive, defamatory or offensive in any nature.
  • Unsolicited advertisements.
  • Any material that incites or encourages illegal activity of any kind, or the intention to commit illegal activity.

You must not bait/troll members. Bait/Trolling is posting with a clear intent to provoke anger, incendiary posts, and behavior that results in other members violating the principles of the Code of Conduct.

We consider there to be a difference between sharing a legitimate point of view and misusing a page to "bad mouth" or verbally attack another person. LAC DES MILLE LACS FIRST NATION reserves the right to remove any comment, post or material that we deem to be in conflict with the above terms and conditions.

LAC DES MILLE LACS FIRST NATION claims no liability in any way connected to the use of or access to this LAC DES MILLE LACS FIRST NATION website. Violations of the Code of Conduct - We may take action, issue a warning, delete your post(s) etc. if your conduct on LAC DES MILLE LACS FIRST NATION Website is counter-productive to or is not in keeping with the spirit of the Code of Conduct's guidelines in our sole discretion.

We consider anyone participating in the LAC DES MILLE LACS FIRST NATION Website to be implicitly agreeing to abide by the above terms and conditions. Should you have any questions in relation to the LAC DES MILLE LACS FIRST NATION Website, please send us a message or use the "Contact Us" form by clicking here.

No