Federal Budget 2019 includes long overdue loan reimbursement for Indigenous groups
The federal government tabled Budget 2019 on Tuesday ahead of October’s federal election. A quarter of new spending is earmarked for Indigenous services; $4.5 billion is promised over 5 years to narrow the socio-economic gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
Chapter 3 of the Budget entitled “Advancing Reconciliation,” sets out a further $1.4 billion over 7 years to clear all outstanding comprehensive claim negotiation loans to Indigenous groups and to reimburse groups that have already repaid these loans. Of that $1.4 billion, $938 million will be dealt with in the present fiscal year, distributed by the end of March 2019. The process for the distribution of these funds is unclear at this time.
While Budget 2018 ended the practice of funding comprehensive claims negotiations through loans and replaced them with non-repayable contributions, Budget 2019 takes it a step further stating, “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…forgiving and reimbursing these loans will allow more than 200 Indigenous communities to reinvest in their priorities like governance, infrastructure and economic development that will increase health and well-being for all community members.”
A large proportion of these Indigenous groups are First Nations in B.C. where there have been fewer historical treaties compared to elsewhere in Canada. Comprehensive claims, also known as modern treaties, are based on the traditional use and occupancy of land by First Nations, Metis, and Inuit who did not sign historical treaties. These Indigenous groups carry millions of dollars of debt from negotiating modern treaty claims with Ottawa; Debt that has come from the same governments that took over the land without a treaty in the first place.
Clearing and reimbursing comprehensive claim negotiation loans is a long overdue and necessary step on the path to Reconciliation.
DGW will continue to monitor Budget 2019 as it unfolds. Get in touch with us for more information.