Tla’amin Nation will benefit by more than $11 million from the federal government’s 2019 budget, which forgives loans for claim negotiations.
“We were very excited to hear that announcement in the March 19 federal budget; I think it is about $1.4 billion across Canada,” said Tla’amin hegus Clint Williams. “We are very excited to be in that number and have our treaty loan forgiven. It’s going to take a little bit of time but we are really glad to see the commitment was made official.”
Williams said Tla’amin’s loan for treaty settlement was a little over $11 million so the forgiveness will allow Tla’amin to do a lot of good things for the nation.
The community will now have to figure what to do with that money, according to the hegus.
“There are many different ideas that we will make public in a little while,” said Williams. “This loan was one of the sore points of the [treaty] process and we are glad it has come to fruition. It has been talked about quietly behind the scenes throughout the process and we are just really glad it was made official in that federal budget day announcement.”
According to the federal budget document, the use of loans has been a longstanding barrier to indigenous participation in negotiations and to concluding subsequent agreements, as debts from prolonged comprehensive claim negotiations can make it difficult for indigenous groups to move forward with other priorities, such as economic development initiatives or service improvements. Forgiving and reimbursing loans will allow indigenous communities and governments to use their resources to strengthen their communities and improve the quality of life of their members, the federal budget states.
Budget 2018 ended the practice of funding comprehensive claim negotiations through loans and replaced them with non-repayable contributions.
To support indigenous communities’ ability to invest in their own priorities, and to demonstrate the government’s commitment to recognizing indigenous rights, Budget 2019 proposes funding of $1.4 billion over seven years, starting in 2018/2019, to forgive all outstanding comprehensive claim negotiation loans and to reimburse indigenous governments that have already repaid these loans, according to the budget. Forgiving and reimbursing loans will allow more than 200 indigenous communities to reinvest in priorities such as governance, infrastructure and economic development that will increase health and well-being for all community members.
