Three Saskatchewan First Nations are taking the federal government to task for what they say are delays in resolving Treaty Land Entitlement payments.
Mistawasis, Ahtahkakoop, and Sakimay First Nations say they have been waiting three years for the federal government to make a per acre market price adjustment to their TLE allocations.
The bands say the provincial government has been on board since 2011 but they have been unable to meet with Minister of Aboriginal Affairs Bernard Valcourt on the issue.
Sakimay Chief Lynn Acoose says the bands are tired of all the delays and their patience is wearing thin.
“That was three years ago that we had reached an agreement with Canada and the province and I think we’ve been patient enough with Canada,” she says.
The bands say in the meantime the price of unimproved agricultural land in the province has risen by 89 per cent.
Acoose says good quality farmland at a reasonable price is getting harder and harder to find in Saskatchewan.
“The price of land has skyrocketed just, you know, in the last five years.”
Minister Valcourt’s office could not be reached for comment.