The $10 billion Robinson Huron Annuities settlement amounts to crumbs on the table
To the Expositor:
Let’s see. Canada’s GDP for 2022 was $1.74 trillion (CDN) in 2012 constant prices. The province of Ontario’s revenue for 2023-2024 is projected to be $188.2 billion. The outlook for 2024-2025 is estimated at $196.9 billion. (budget.ontario.ca) The value of mineral production in Ontario in 2019 was $10.7 billion. In 2021, Ontario mining contributed approximately $8 billion to the GDP.
One-hundred and seventy-three years’ worth of resource extraction from 180 square miles of Anishinaabe lands including timber, minerals, aggregates, agricultural production and other resources was worth $4 per year per person in the Robinson Huron Treaty. The reason only $4 per year per person was paid out in annuities was because the British could not afford the principal price of 180 square miles of land. So, they talked about paying the interest on the principal on 180 square miles of land. Then, they realized that they couldn’t afford that, either. Finally, someone came up with the brainwave, “why don’t we pay only the interest on the interest – an annuity in perpetuity?” So, that’s what happened when the Robinson Huron Treaty was negotiated. The British offered only interest on the interest on the principal – $4 a year.
A treaty is a legally binding, internationally recognized agreement between sovereign nations. The fact that there is a Robinson Huron Treaty is an acknowledgment by the British that they were dealing with sovereign Indian nations. Robinson Huron Treaty “Indians” are not domestic dependent nations or wards of the state. We are sovereign Indian nations, and we should start behaving as such. We are hosts in our own homelands, and yet we are treated as if we don’t know the difference between a million, a billion, or a trillion.
The monies that were made from the sale of Indian lands were placed in an Indian Trust Fund. However, through seepage, mismanagement, and just plain theft, Indian monies were used for such things as roads, bridges, railways, canals, universities and other infrastructure. Some of the beneficiaries of Indian money were: the City of Toronto, Montreal Turnpike Trust, Desjardins Canal, the Grand River Navigation Company, and the Consolidated Municipal Loan Fund. Eventually, Indian Trust Fund monies were absorbed into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the main account where all revenues and taxes are placed.
“$10 billion? Crumbs on the table.” So say some folks about the Robinson Huron Treaty settlement agreement. If you ask me, land back is the better discussion to have. Mii sa iw.
Marie McGregor-Pitawanakwat
Doognaning
