Band officials with an Inverness Co. First Nation says it’s time to resolve a decades-old land claim.
Annie Bernard-Daisley, the chief of We’koqma’q, says councillors are pursuing the claim for lands where the nearby village of Whycocomagh was built.
Bernard-Daisley tells The Hawk the land rightfully belongs to band members, and it’s time for federal officials to acknowledge that.
“(We want to know) that they’re ready to settle, that they’re ready to move on, that they’re ready to work together- let’s just get this moving,” she says. “We’ve lost too many community members in We’koqma’q that have waited and wished for this to happen.”
Bernard-Daisley says the claim, which they first opened in 1982, is the oldest this side of Montreal.
She says officials with the federal government have been stalling on the claim.
Bernard-Daisley says they’ve appointed a new negotiator and, although changing negotiators has been a stall tactic before, she hopes they’re serious about resolving the claim now.
“(They should) move forward as quickly and efficiently as possible as they can, instead of letting this land claim sit for another 20, 30, 40 years without any kind of resolution,” she says. “The government has stalled so many different times and have left false promises and false hope in the eyes of our community members.”
Bernard-Daisley says it’s a clear priority for band members, and councillors will push their federal counterparts to make it happen.
She says they can show they’re serious about reconciliation by getting negotiations started without delay.
