Ogichidaakwe Diane Kelly and the Chiefs in Treaty #3 demand immediate attention to the oversight regarding implementation of the HST.  Both the Federal and Provincial governments point to each other’s government’s inaction as the rationale for HST to be unilaterally imposed on Treaty #3 communities and their citizens in Treaty #3 territory.

Self-delivery as an option for full exemption of the 13% HST.   The Province is working with First Nations on exempting “Status Indians” with Certificates of Indian Status (“Status Card”) of the 8% portion of the HST.  In lieu of a final agreement with First Nations in Ontario, a rebate program is being negotiated.  Grand Council Treaty #3 demands that the HST not be administered through a rebate system, which will be common to all Ontarians in the transition to the HST.  The Grand Council Treaty #3 has been consistently advocating for the Point of Sale exemption and is requesting that Northwestern Ontario merchants and municipalities join in their cause.

“Are we to support governments that consistently fight our claims and interests?” asks Ogichidaakwe Diane Kelly.  ”We have full government jurisdiction in our territory and the citizens living within the 55,000 square miles of our territory, we never created a tax treaty with Canada or any other government,” she explains.   “The HST should not be administered in our territory in such a way to circumvent our place in this territory as the original government who signed a Treaty with the Queen of England.”

“Further,” states the Grand Chief of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty #3, “until the treaty is fully implemented we have arguments that our share has been paid in full, many times over with the treaty obligations of Canada being ignored and disrespected.”   Over 30 million ounces of gold has been illegitimately taken from the territory without any benefit, yet a benefit sharing agreement was promised in Treaty #3.  To date, little to no benefit sharing has been given to the Treaty #3 communities for almost 140 years of resource extraction.

An earlier media release follows below.

In March 2009, both the Federal and Provincial governments announced a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) goal within Ontario and set a unilateral deadline of July 1, 2010 for implementation. Grand Council Treaty 3, joined all Ontario First Nations in criticizing both the process and policy behind the announcement. Fundamentally, these governments intend to infringe inherent jurisdiction and the treaty relationship through the HST initiative.

Section 87 of the federal Indian Act has long-stood for a treaty promise of protecting the inherent jurisdiction of First Nations and their traditional governments. Grand Council Treaty 3 is the historic, traditional government that has pre-existed Canada and any European contact within the area now known as Northwestern Ontario and eastern Manitoba. The 55,000 square miles of Anishinaabe territory, also known as Treaty 3 territory, has always been governed by the Anishinaabe Nation of the Grand Council that surrounded Rainy Lake, Lake of the Woods and the English River watersheds.

The expectation for any Federal-Provincial initiative that could impact the ability of the Grand Council Treaty 3 to govern within Treaty 3, is that a government to government process would be jointly determined and implemented by the parties within the treaty framework. Unilateralism has been largely criticized by Canadian Courts and been replaced with regimes of Consultation policies and accommodation frameworks.

The ability of Treaty 3 citizens to utilize their Status Cards to receive point-of-sale exemptions on provincial taxes is more than symbolic of sovereignty, it is a practical and real act of sovereignty by citizens of the Grand Council. Representatives of the Grand Council Treaty 3 in 1873 said that they would only sign Treaty 3 as a Nation, and that the Queen’s representatives were only to negotiate with the Nation and not individual communities. This important jurisdiction to negotiate treaties and to govern the territory has always been held by the Grand Council Treaty 3, since time immemorial.

Billions of dollars in resources have been extracted from the 55,000 square miles of Treaty 3 territory which was instrumental for investment into Canadian Confederation, and was done in a manner that ignored the promises made in Treaty 3, and this policy had been described as “economic apartheid.” The citizens of Treaty 3 could not hire lawyers to fight for their rights, were not party to the St. Catherine’s Milling case which narrowly interpreted Treaty 3, and could not even purchase licenses to extract resources. This apartheid-like policy made it impossible for the Anishinaabe to share in the wealth of the territory in the twentieth-century.

A Political Statement by the Grand Council Treaty 3 on the HST was delivered to Minister Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance for the Government of Canada today in Kenora, Ontario.

QUOTES:

“The PST exemption is not merely symbolic, but in two important ways, it tells the rest of Canada that we are both sovereign and distinct peoples in this region. The Point of Sale exemption stands in the way of asking for more revenues from a group of people largely marginalized through the treaty history of Ontario.” explains Deputy Grand Chief Simon Fobister of Grassy Narrows First Nation. “Ontario has unjustly enriched itself over more than 120 years and now wants to administrate the HST, illegally, to collect taxes from the citizens of Treaty 3 to support activities that clearly discourage treaty implementation and adversely impact our rights and interests.”

For more information contact:

Website: http://www.treaty3.ca