Agreements seen as reconciliation: Ontario chiefs, ministry discuss experiences negotiating revenue-sharing agreements.

• Date: 01 April 2019
• Author: McKinley, Karen

Several Ontario Indigenous chiefs and executives say revenue-sharing agreements will be good for all communities in Northern Ontario because the First Nations are major supporters of businesses in the region.

Revenue-sharing agreements have taken a more significant role in recent years as mining and forestry companies seek to harvest resources from Indigenous lands.

It was a hot topic at the 2019 Prospectors and Developers Association (PDAC) annual convention in Toronto. Several panels were dedicated to discussing personal experiences, legal frameworks and the benefits and challenges associated with them.

One held on March 5 looked specifically at the work done between Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario to ensure fair agreements between communities and the government.

The panel included Jason Batise, executive director of the Wabun Tribal Council; Craig Brown, acting assistant deputy minister in the policy division of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry; Jason Gauthier, chief of the Missanabie Cree First Nation; and Francis Kavanaugh, Ogichidaa (Grand Chief) of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty 3.

Grand Chief Kavanaugh said he viewed resource sharing as the actualization of the Great...