Cape Breton Mi'kmaw community to receive $125M in land settlement

We'koqma'q First Nation residents will soon receive cheques following a $125-million land settlement reached with the federal government earlier this year. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the settlement during a visit to Cape Breton in June, ending over four decades of negotiations to resolve a dispute that began in 1862. 

The land in question, totalling approximately 161 hectares, was absorbed by the nearby village of Whycocomagh following what We'koqma'q officials describe as an "improper sale."

"It was stolen from our community," said We'koqma'q Chief John Leonard Bernard. "People started buying and living on the land, but it still belonged to us."

Bernard said over the years, the First Nation turned down offers from different federal governments.

"This is the first and only time that we felt that there was a significant number to be given to us," he said. 

Payments slated to arrive in December 

As a result of the settlement, a vote was held on Sept. 27 to determine whether We'koqma'q residents wished to reclaim the land outright or receive financial compensation. Of the 780 people on the list of voters, 546 voted in favour and only 17 voted against the compensation option. 

As a result, each resident of We'koqma'q aged 19 and over will receive $75,526, according to a statement posted by the community on its Facebook page. The chief said the same amount will be put in a trust fund for each resident under the age of 19, to be accessed once they reach that age. 

"I hear a lot of people want to open up little stores or businesses," said Bernard. "They want to do things like party rentals, they want to open up a salon. So this will be beneficial for each and everybody."

Sydney-Victoria MP Jaime Battiste, who is also the parliamentary secretary for federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree, said the individual payments should start arriving in December. 

"This means people are spending more around the holidays, and we're hoping and anticipating that this will be good for the people of We'koqma'q," said Battiste, whose riding of Cape Breton-Canso is adjacent to the community. 

Settlement could boost economic development

The remainder of the settlement funds, totalling approximately $30 million, will be redirected to a community trust fund designed to spur economic growth and investment in We'koqma'q, the chief said. 

"If there's any economic development opportunities that come around, and we need a million or two, we can take it out of there if the community lets us," said Bernard.

The chief did not specify what type of opportunities would prompt this.

Settlement process holds family connection for MP

The resolution of the 42-year-old We'koqma'q settlement claim was a full-circle moment for Battiste. His father, James (Sa'ke'j) Youngblood Henderson, was among the first legal investigators to probe the claim on behalf of the Union of Nova Scotia Indians, now known as the Union of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq. 

"To know that he was working on this back in the '80s, and to see it finally cross the finish line, it does give me a little pride," said Battiste. 

"This is one of the [cases] that the minister prioritized, and as a Mi'kmaw person from Cape Breton, I'm really proud to see this cross the finish line, but I'm also excited to see what it does for the Cape Breton economy."