Matachewan First Nation Reaches Historic Settlement on Treaty Land Entitlement Claim

Chief Alex ‘Sonny’ Batisse of the Matachewan First Nation, Will Bouma, Parliamentary Assistant to the Ontario Minister of Indigenous Affairs on behalf of the Honourable Greg Rickford and the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Canada’s Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations, announced the settlement of a treaty land entitlement (TLE) claim under Treaty #9, also known as the James Bay Treaty, signed in 1906.

Treaty land entitlement claim settlements are intended to remedy circumstances where First Nations did not receive the amount of reserve land promised to them. Treaty #9 provided First Nations with 640 acres per family of five (128 acres per member). The Matachewan First Nation did not receive all the land to which it is entitled.

In 2019, Canada provided approximately $16 million in compensation and a provision for the First Nation to seek to add at least 4,572 acres to reserve. Through this agreement, Ontario will provide the Matachewan First Nation with $590,000 in compensation and 5,027.7 acres of provincial Crown land, which may be added to its reserve.

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