FSIN says sale of Crown land has negative impact on Treaty rights

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says the sale of Crown lands in Saskatchewan has a negative impact on Treaty rights.

FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said these concerns with the provincial government have been ongoing for a couple of years now and it started when the government started auctioning off land.

"This is all Treaty land, this is all traditional, ancestral land, where we hunted, fished, trapped and gathered," Cameron said. 

He said the provincial government is not holding up its end of the Treaty Land Entitlement agreement that was put into place in the early 1990's.

"[It] clearly states that any Crown land that is up for sale that First Nations communities and people have first buyers rights to these lands and that's not what's happening," Cameron said.

Cameron said the FSIN lands and resource commission are looking at other forms of action.

He said the sale of Crown land affects Treaty rights directly as it impacts Indigenous people's ability to freely hunt, fish, trap and gather. Cameron said many First Nations people still exercise these Treaty rights as a way of life.

"It affects us when land is being put up for sale and it goes somewhere else and we're not able to continue our way of life on the land," Cameron said. "It's a complete violation and infringement on our inherent Treaty rights, plain and simple."

He said as far as first buying rights, the only correspondence received by First Nations from the provincial government has been notification that a parcel of land is going up for auction.

"That's not good enough, that right there is failure on the duty to consult," Cameron said.

Concerns 'always heard,' says ministry

Wally Hoehn, the executive director for Lands Branch with the ministry of agriculture, said the province's obligations are to First Nations, not the FSIN.

"We do provide them with a list of lands that are going to be in the auction in advance of it being advertised publicly, this is something our previous minister had agreed to and so we do provide them that list," Hoehn said.

He said any First Nation that has signed onto the Treaty Land Entitlement Framework Agreement is eligible to select any Crown land at any time.

He said there is a very specific process that is followed when a selection by a First Nation has been made.

"We don't consult with them, we do do duty to consult on all of these lands which is different from Treaty Land Entitlement and in a lot of cases a First Nation may at that time indicate they are interested in it," Hoehn said.

"In previous auctions we held those lands from the auction sale just so we could have further discussions with that particular First Nation."

He said if the land is being leased out to somebody, there is no involvement of First Nations or Métis groups if the land was being sold to the current occupant. Hoehn said the province typically consults with First Nations who are identified as having historical interest in vacant Crown land before it is put up for auction. 

As for the FSIN's concern about infringing on Treaty rights by selling Crown land, Hoehn said it is a concern the government has always heard.

"From the perspective and legal advice I get, a lot of these lands have been under lease and as such when they're under lease [that] ability to exercise those Treaty rights do not exist," Hoehn said. "Control is held by the lessee."

He said once the lands become vacant it's a "totally different perspective." 

Hoehn said the government does have a lot of land that has been vacant for a long time and when to comes to selling those lands, the government does its duty to consult Indigenous people.

"We have sold a lot of Crown land but there still are a lot of Crown land available to exercise those rights on," Hoehn said.

"We administer between six and seven million acres of Crown agricultural land and it is all subject to selection at any time by any First Nations but they don't need to wait for when it comes up on an auction."