Government Announces New Round of Consultations on the Algonquin Land Claim
It’s been relatively quiet on the Algonquin Land Claim front over the past few years, but negotiations have been ongoing. The land claim covers 36,000 square kilometres in eastern Ontario, an area with more than 1.2 million people and a variety of existing land uses. The final treaty will see the transfer of over 117,000 acres of Crowns lands to Algonquin ownership (the ‘Settlement Lands’) and define the rights of the Algonquins of Ontario related to lands and the use of natural resources in the area.
The OFAH has been following the negotiations for more than two decades, and when a draft Agreement-in-Principle was released in 2012, the OFAH, Canadian Sportfishing Industries Association, and Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Association took to the road to host non-government open houses in many communities throughout the claim area to discuss the impacts.
Recent negotiations have resulted in some changes to the proposed Settlement Lands that were originally proposed in 2012. The new Settlement Lands package contains a variety of provincial Crown lands, roads, access points, and Crown assets (e.g. former ranger camps) that are being proposed for transfer. It also contains amendments to certain provincial park boundaries.
MNRF is seeking comments on the “Supplemental Report to the Draft Environmental Evaluation Report: Proposed Settlement Lands”. The Government is interested in hearing from individuals who have cottages, hunt camps or land use permits and anyone else who recreates in the settlement area and is affected by the transfer of lands. Public consultation on the Report and the Settlement Lands package is being conducted from October 26, 2020 through December 10, 2020. Go to https://www.ontario.ca/page/algonquin-land-claim for all of the information you need.