Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation [Treaty land entitlement]

In April 1998, the First Nation requested an inquiry into its rejected claim that non-arable land was included in its treaty land entitlement (TLE) and that additions of land in 1930 and 1970 should not be counted in the TLE calculation. Shortly thereafter, it restated its legal arguments because the original claim had been filed in November 1982 without the benefit of legal counsel. In November 1998, the government challenged the Commission’s mandate to inquire into this claim on the basis that the restatement essentially represented a new claim. In June 1999, the panel ruled that the inquiry would proceed.

Planning conferences were held in August and November 2002. During the winter of 2002-2003, a joint working group, made up of representatives of the First Nation, Canada, and the Commission, discussed a paylist analysis of the First Nation. In the spring of 2003, the inquiry was placed in abeyance for a period of time before being resumed in October. Planning conferences were held in February, June and September 2004.

In the fall of 2004, Canada proposed splitting the inquiry into two phases and inviting Long Plain First Nation’s intervention in the inquiry as an affected party. The panel rejected the phased inquiry request. In December 2004, Long Plain First Nation submitted a motion for intervener status, and Sandy Bay First Nation made submissions on the matter in January 2005. An oral hearing in this matter, as well as a site visit, was held in June 2005. Oral arguments are scheduled to be heard in June 2006.