Duane Hicks
With less than two months left before the lease for Pither’s Point Park expires, the Town of Fort Frances has come forward to explain its position and update residents regarding ongoing negotiations.
All Fort Frances residents will be receiving a letter from the Office of the Mayor in the mail today outlining the history of the issue, the town’s involvement, and where the issue currently stands.
In an interview yesterday afternoon, Mayor Roy Avis said the town actually had the letter drafted for several months now, and it already has been shared with the counsel for the First Nations and with the provincial and federal government.
It is not a response to the letter from the four local chiefs which appeared in the Times last week, which, in fact, was a response to the town’s letter.
“We have a responsibility to inform our citizens of the municipality’s position on the Point Park,” the mayor said. “We are also spending a tremendous amount of money—$250,000 a year—on negotiations over the park, and we had to make sure that message got out to our citizens.
“That’s the reason that we put forward this letter.
“It wasn’t to establish any parameters, or any type of boundaries, or a line in the sand,” the mayor stressed. “We are trying to look for a local solution, and work with the other parties to come up with a solution.
“What we’re hoping is that now it’s out in the open and everybody’s aware of it, now this will move us onto our next step, which is mediation for a short-term solution to this issue so that the park can remain status quo until further mediation can take place to decide on the future of the park.”
Mayor Avis said town council has been actively working with key stakeholders within the community, as well as the provincial and federal governments, since 1999 to secure the long-term future of the park for the benefit of all residents.
“We as a municipality, we are representing all the citizens of our community—aboriginal and non-aboriginal—and we feel we have an obligation to work on their behalf,” the mayor continued. “A lot of people who live in this community cannot afford a summer home, they can’t afford to go away on vacations.
“That’s kind of a gathering centre for this community,” he noted. “That has to be really stressed—it’s a part of our community and we’re doing it for every person in this community, not just a select few.
“It’s for the betterment of the community and the district.”
According to the letter, “The Town of Fort Frances is currently involved as a defendant and key stakeholder on behalf of its citizens in a number of outstanding lawsuits concerning Pither’s Point municipal park, and roadways and waterfront land in, surrounding, and adjacent to the park. These disputes have come about by claims made by the Couchiching, Naicatchewenin, Nicickousemenecaning, and Stanjikoming First Nations to the land in question and seeking monetary compensation.
“The defendants to these claims are the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario and to some, but not all claims, the Town of Fort Frances.
“For several years, the Town of Fort Frances has attempted through numerous steps to build support to bring key stakeholders to the table and engage senior political and departmental decision-makers from the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario in securing support for an alternate resolution process specific to, but not exclusive to, the Pither’s Point municipal park dispute.”
The Pither’s Point municipal park claim initiated by the four bands seeks, in addition to claiming the Pither’s Point municipal park lands, $90 million in damages against Canada and Ontario for breach of fiduciary duty arising out of the 1908 surrender by the four bands of land of which the town park is included, explained the mayor.
The letter explains that the municipal park was created based on the recommendation of then Minister of Lands, Forests, and Mines, the Hon. Frank Cochrane, who along with the Ontario cabinet in 1908, passed an Order in Council granting the Town of Fort Frances land for a municipal park that had been surrendered as part of a treaty signed by the bands of the day in 1873.
“It is important to note that the surrender of this land as part of the treaty agreement, and also more specifically in 1908 by the four bands, is not being challenged by the bands as part of these current land claim disputes,” reads the letter.
The town believes the former Agency lands in dispute, having been surrendered by the four bands, are not reserve lands and that the Ontario government, through its Order in Council in 1908, granted this land to the Town of Fort Frances for a municipal park.
“As far as we’re concerned, the Order in Council is still in effect to this day,” said Mayor Avis.
The mayor stressed the town has “attempted through numerous actions to engage in direct dialogue with the band leadership to explore possible local solutions to the dispute that would ensure the park remains a municipal park for the enjoyment of all residents of the community.”
To date, no resolution has been reached, but the town agrees with the four bands (as expressed in their open letter) that the cessation of the lease held by the Government of Canada as a park “would serve no practical purpose at this time.”
Mayor Avis said in the letter the town is calling on all parties “to balance all community interests currently affected by this dispute.”
He also noted the land has been appraised, but that figure has not yet been shared with the four bands and could not be publicly revealed at this time.
With the lease being up in less than two months, the mayor said the town would be willing to agree to a short-term solution while continuing to work with the First Nations, and the federal and provincial governments, to seal a long-term agreement.
“We know that within two months, that’s probably impossible. So we would like to see it remain status quo. As far as the lease payment to the First Nations, we don’t believe it would be our responsibility to pay it,” said Mayor Avis.
The town has been paying $35 per year as a lease payment.
But the mayor said the town also has been paying $50,000 a year to maintain that park, and would continue to do so in the interim so the public could keep using it. The town would refrain from making any capital investments until a long-term agreement could be determined.
Mayor Avis pledged he will be in further communication with officials in coming weeks “to advance our solution that will ensure the future of the municipal park for the benefit of all citizens” and that the town will “remain committed to working with members of the First Nations communities to achieve a solution as quickly as possible.”
Mayor Avis reiterated this matter is not a dispute between the four bands and Town of Fort Frances, but with the federal and provincial governments.
“We live together, the kids go to school together, we party together, there’s lot of marriages in this community,” he said. “We’re not trying to build a wall—we are trying to come up with a solution to the problem that has been created by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario dating back to 1980, when the Order in Council said the land was surrendered for park purposes.”
For more information on the history of Pither’s Point Park, check out a video on www.fortfrances.tv
