A southern Saskatchewan First Nations chief says he feels the federal government is “hiding” behind Saskatchewan when it comes to a fight over minerals in the province.
Glen Pratt of the George Gordon First Nation recently announced that his band is suing Ottawa for $10 billion.
The dispute is over a section of land that is rich in oil and potash.
The band has been trying to acquire it through the Treaty Land Entitlement process, but has been continually denied.
Pratt says this issue really lies between the First Nation and the federal government, not the province:
“This TLE settlement, TLE agreement, was about Canada and the feds — and the fact that the feds took our land. And now all of a sudden, Saskatchewan is right in the middle of it with all the final say on everything . . . and that’s not right, to me.”
He says while Ottawa is “hiding” behind Saskatchewan, the province is “hiding” behind the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement.