TURTLE ISLAND
August 9, 2002
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
ALGONQUINS/ONTARIO
SIGN HISTORIC AGREEMENT
Killaloe
- The
Algonquin Nation Tribal Council (ANTC) announced today that they have recently
signed the “Protocol Between the Algonquins and the Ontario Ministry of
Natural Resources”.
“The
Protocol is a major breakthrough in the negotiation of the Algonquin Land Claim
Treaty,” said Chief Doreen Davis, spokesperson for the Algonquin Nation Tribal
Council. The Algonquin Nation
Tribal Council politically represents close to 4,000 Algonquin persons including
both non-status Indians that have Section 35 Constitutional Aboriginal rights in
the Ontario portion of the Ottawa Valley and status Indians living off reserve.
“The Protocol outlines a cooperative process between the Algonquins and the Ministry of Natural Resources to be used during the course of the treaty negotiations for proposed dispositions, re-designations or regulation of crown land within the land claim area”, said Chief Davis. She went on to say, “This process also includes the review by the Algonquins, of proposed Ontario Living Legacy (OLL) sites, identification of its concerns and the establishment of a mechanism to resolve those concerns.”
The
protocol establishes a consistent procedure to be employed to notify the
Algonquins of any proposed disposition of crown land in the territory, address
any concerns resulting from the proposed dispositions and it provides an
opportunity for the MNR and the Algonquins to resolve any issues arising.
This
protocol establishes a process for protecting the natural resources on those
lands that may be identified by the Ontario and Algonquin Negotiators as having
specific interest to the Algonquins during the treaty negotiations.
“This Protocol is a major breakthrough in our Nations centuries old
struggle for justice” said Chief Negotiator, Greg Sarazin, “We now have a
formal mechanism in place to protect those lands that will be returned to the
Algonquin Nation as a part of a treaty settlement.
We have never had that before.”
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Chief
Doreen Davis
Algonquin Nation Tribal Council
P.O. Box 2, 1 John Street
Killaloe, Ontario K0J-2A0
1-613-757-1554
Page created by: muckwa
Changes last made on: Sunday August 25, 2002