Blood Tribe Chief Roy Fox. (Blood Tribe)

By David Opinko

Ottawa reportedly holding off on $150M settlement with Blood Tribe due to lawsuit

Nov 10, 2021 | 11:38 AM

STANDOFF, AB – Members of the Blood Tribe will likely have to wait a while longer before being compensated by the federal government.

Back in September, the First Nation voted to ratify a $150-million settlement with Ottawa for the Treaty Entitlement Cattle Specific Claim, also known colloquially as the “cows and ploughs” settlement.

As part of the Blackfoot Treaty of 1877, the federal government promised to provide cattle and agricultural equipment to members as part of Treaty 7 negotiations in exchange for ceding roughly 130,000 km₂ of land but never followed through.

READ MORE: $150M cattle settlement approved by Blood Tribe members

Following the ratification vote, however, three residents launched a lawsuit against the Blood Tribe council, alleging that they did not properly consult members on the vote and failed to provide documents that outlined the exact details of the proposed settlement.

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According to the trio, that did not allow voters to make an informed decision as they did not know where all the money would be going, adding that they believe each person should have been compensated more.

READ MORE: Blood Tribe members launch lawsuit against Council regarding $150M settlement

The Blood Tribe issued an update on November 9 about the impact the lawsuit is having on the settlement, saying that, “As a result, Canada has not yet executed the Settlement Agreement and is considering whether to withhold the final signing of the Agreement pending the resolution of the court challenge. Until the Settlement Agreement is signed by the Minister no compensation will be forwarded to the Blood Tribe.”

The exact amount set to be paid by the federal government is $149,842,550. Each Blood Tribe member would receive $3,000, while the rest would go to a long-term investment fund, infrastructure projects, and legal costs.

Until the Settlement Agreement is paid, the First Nation reminds its residents that they will not be receiving any financial amounts.

“If the Applicants are successful in holding up the signing of the Settlement Agreement by the Minister, then every day that the Blood Tribe does not receive the compensation is another day that no interest can be earned on the amount that is owed to the Blood Tribe,” the Blood Tribe said in a statement. “It is estimated that the interest per day will be in the thousands of dollars, even with a low interest rate on investments. This would be the annual interest that would be payable to Blood Tribe members as a yearly per capita distribution payment.”

It is not clear exactly how long it will take the resolve the lawsuit, and therefore, when members could expect to be compensated.