Mediation: Applying the Lessons from Specific Claims Process to BC Treaty Process

A specific claim is a claim made by first nations against the federal government relating to the non-fulfilment of an historic treaty or the mismanagement of first nations land or other assets. For years the specific claims process has been backlogged. According to Justice Department testimony to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development in early October, significant progress is being made in relieving the backlog in the specific claims process. The solution includes the principles found in the BC Treaty process and adds mediation.

In response to the Senate Standing Committee Report, in June 2007, the Prime Minister announced “Justice at Last: Specific Claims Action Plan” aimed at reforming the specific claims process. The action plan was built on four independent pillars:

• impartiality and fairness, 
• faster processing, 
• greater transparency, 
• and better access to mediation. 

All four pillars have been implemented, and the success of the process reform even now is clearly evident. 

 

Implementing the four pillars have yielded significant results: an independent adjudicative body has been established; the backlog of claims and assessment phase of the process will have been addressed in a few weeks; 68 claims, valued at more than $1 billion, have been resolved through negotiated agreements, and 247 claims are currently in negotiation.

The Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples studied the problem and issued a report, entitled Negotiation or Confrontation: It's Canada's Choice. The conclusion cited that the specific claims process was defective and that first nations perceived a conflict of interest given that the government both judges and compensates claims made against it.

Sounds familiar to complaints related to the BC Treaty Process. The Independent Effectiveness Review of the BC Treaty Process published Nov 18, 2003 by Deloitte & Touche LLP concluded that the BC Treaty Commission performed well, given its mandate. However, the BC Treaty Commission has no powers! Maybe its time to add the fourth pillar to the BC Treaty Process - access to mediation.