Land, money in proposed Algonquin land claim just a start, says chief

A negotiator for the Algonquins of Ontario says the $300 millionand 117,500 acres of provincial crown land in eastern Ontario set to betransferred to them in aproposed agreement in principle signed this week is "just the beginning"as they continue negotiationsleading to a final settlement.

The dealcovers about 36,000 square kilometresstretching fromMattawatothe Quebec border, including Ottawa andParliament Hill.

• Algonquin reach draft land claim deal in eastern Ontario
• Historic land deal with Algonquin peoples signed by federal, Ontario governments
• Chiefs say proposed Algonquin land claim deal illegal, fraudulent

Thechief of the Algonquins of Pikwkanagnat Golden Lake, the largestFirst Nationin the settlement area,said the current financial and land amounts in the proposal are "a floor, not a ceiling."

"At this point that's the financial figure on the table but we hope to improve on that it's not the whole package," said KirbyWhiteduck.

"I think our people expect us to add to that."

Whiteduck says the Crown never extinguished the Algonquintitle to the land and now, with 60 per centof the area in the land settlement privately owned, negotiators will be looking for additional Crown land in the final agreement.

"There's more acres of land we want to own and we think we deserve more.It's our land," he said.

Could be 5 years until it's finalized

AToronto lawyer and senior negotiator for the Algonquins of Ontariosaid that moving forward,additional federalland holdings will beadded to the settlement.

Robert Potts said the former CFB Rockcliffesite, where the Algonquins are partneringwith the governmentand TartanHomes to develop housing on the decommissioned base, is one example.

Anannouncementon a partnership between the Algonquins and the government on anotherfederal commercial piece of land is coming, Potts said.

"We are incrementally adding to the packages and we're not done yet," he said.

"These joint ventures provide not only additional capital to our package but also provide us with jobs for people and expertise as we learn how to do these developments."

Potts estimates it will take another fiveyears to negotiate a final land claim settlement deal.

'Now starting the real negotiations'

Whiteduck says his people have waited more than 250 years for this final round of negotiations.

"We're now starting the real negotiations and this is where the rubber hits the road, or we have to dig our paddles in deeper to battle a stronger current," he said.

Modern negotiations first began 24 years ago on this, thelargest land claim being negotiated in Ontario.

If the final deal is ratified by the Algonquins and passed by the federal and provincial governments,it will be the province's first modern-day, constitutionally protected treaty.