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Join us in our continuing series on Canada's Additions-to-Reserve policy and how it's failing our First Nations communities.

If you’re unfamiliar with Additions to reserve - or ATR - it’s the process through which Canada allows land to be added to a First Nation’s reserve. But it’s often a long, frustrating, and inefficient journey.

In this episode with Melissa MacDonald of Membertou (NS) we’ll explore why ATRs matter to First Nations, the opportunities they bring, and the challenges posed by a policy that Canada itself has acknowledged as broken.

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LINKS:

Membertou

First Nations Land Management Resource Centre

Additions-to-Reserve Policy Redesign (Canada)

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Joseph Tootoosis is a young policy analyst with a special interest in sovereignty, land restitution and redress. He also sees the need for a drastic overhaul in Canada's Additions-to-Reserve policy, a complicated process that hurts First Nations trying to add to their reserve land base.

Why do ATRs matter to First Nations? What opportunities are Bands missing out on? How does adding land relate to Indigenous sovereignty?

We address those questions in this podcast episode. Joseph and host Richard Perry begin by making the connection between land and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

LINKS:

Joseph Tootoosis on Linkedin

Flying Dust First Nation

Kekwetlem First Nation

First Nation Lands Management Resource Centre

Additions-to-Reserve Policy Redesign (Canada)

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In this special series we’re diving into Canada’s Additions-to-Reserve policy — a crucial yet complex issue for First Nations communities across the country.

If you’re unfamiliar with Additions to reserve - or ATR - it’s the process through which Canada allows land to be added to a First Nation’s reserve. But it’s often a long, frustrating, and inefficient journey.

In this episode, Chief Derek Epp of Ch’íyáqtel (formerly Tzeachten First Nation) in B.C. talks about an exciting pilot project that shows the process can happen much more quickly. It's a tool that can help Nations grow socially and economically.

LINKS:

Tzeachten First Nation

First Nations Land Management Resource Centre

Additions-to-Reserve Policy Redesign (Canada)

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The path to reclaiming land governance is far from easy, but adding lands to a First Nation's land base is essential for a community's long-term sustainability.

In this special series, we explore why the federal Additions-to-Reserve policy matters to First Nations. We unpack the intricacies of land rights in conversations with leaders demanding change to an often slow and complex process..which even the Government of Canada admits is broken.

In this episode, host Richard Perry speaks with Chief Kelly LaRocca of Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation in Ontario.

LINKS:

Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation website

First Nations Land Management Resource Centre website

Federal Additions-to-Reserve Policy Redesign (Canada)

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Chief Scott McLeod of Nipissing First Nation says his communty and most other First Nations have been disrupted by the process of colonization and are trying to find their way back.

This includes what has been described as a crisis – the lack of enforcement of First Nations laws.

He told host Richard Perry that so-called "Crown' land, where his people have been sustained for centuries, can no longer continue to be withheld from the true rights holders.


Links:

• Contact Chief McLeod by email: scottm@nfn.ca
• Nipissing First Nation website
• 2023 Conference on Enforcing First Nation Laws website for updates and resources
• First Nations Land Management Resource Centre website

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Tim Raybould is one of Canada's leading consultants in First Nations policy and governance.

For over twenty-five years Tim has provided professional advice to First Nations and Indigenous organizations in Canada and has been directly involved in a number of Indigenous–led sectoral and comprehensive governance initiatives.

Tim was Westbank First Nation’s self-government negotiator and remains active in title and rights issues for Westbank including participating in reconciliation negotiations with the Crown as part of the Okanagan Nation. He has been a senior advisor to the BC Assembly of First Nations and co-authored the BCAFN governance toolkit: a guide to nation building. Tim is the senior policy advisor to the First Nations Finance Authority and has worked with the First Nations Tax Commission, the First Nations Land Management Board and the former National Centre for First Nations Governance. He is also a faculty member for the Banff Centre’s Aboriginal Leadership and Management program.

Raybould encourages First Nations leaders to keep fighting for self-government and the establishment of First Nations courts within their own Indigenous justice systems. He sat down with host Richard Perry prior to delivering his address at the 2023 National Conference on the Enforcement of First Nation Laws.

Links:
Tim Raybould on LinkedIn
2023 Conference website for updates and resources
First Nations Land Management Resource Centre website

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Jackie Lombardi graduated from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law on the Dean's Honour List with a Distinction in Aboriginal Law and Indigenous Legal Traditions.

She brought her valuable perspective to the 2023 National Conference on the Enforcement of First Nation Laws, hosted by the First Nations Lands Advisory Board and First Nations Land Management Resource Centre.

She joined host Richard Perry for a conversation about her role with the Chiefs of Ontario and why solutions are required to overcome gaps in law enforcement in First Nations.

Links:

• Conference website for future follow-up materials and updates –https://www.2023firstnationenforcementconference.com/
• Jackie Lombardi on LinkedIn
• Chiefs of Ontario website

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Whitecap Dakota First Nation, near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has been a leading example of a community taking back control of law enforcement.

Murray Long, Director of Self-Government, joins host Richard Perry to explain how this progressive First Nation is working with government partners to make significant progress. The conversation was recorded in June 2023 at the National Conference on the Enforcement of First Nation Laws.

Links:

Conference website for updates and resource materials
Whitecap Dakota First Nation website
Murray Long on LinkedIn
Land Management Resource Centre website