A historic event took place before the City of Thompson's April 12 council meeting. Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) Chief Michael Constant, along with band councillors, came together to meet with Mayor Tim Johnston to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which will allow OCN to create an urban reserve within the boundaries of the City of Thompson.
An urban reserve is defined by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) as a reserve within or adjacent to an urban centre. Land can be declared an urban reserve as long as agreements have been negotiated between the First Nation looking to create the reserve as well as the municipality in which the reserve will exist. Such places exist in Portage La Prairie as well as Regina, Sask. and Vancouever, B.C. There are currently more than 120 urban reserves in all of Canada that have been established under the Additions to Reserve policy and Treaty Land Entitlement agreements.
In May 1997, OCN signed a treaty land entitlement framework agreement, which allowed them to collect or acquire land in their traditional territories as well as within the Treaty 5 area. Two years later in January 1999 OCN signed their own treaty land entitlement agreement and started making land selections and acquisitions.
The federal government notified OCN about the surplus federal land in Thompson, which OCN acquired in 2003. Since that time OCN and the City of Thompson have had numerous discussions and OCN proposed an MOU to the City of Thompson in 2007 about a portion of federal land that had not been developed. The final step of the process took place on April 12, when Constant and Johnston signed the MOU.
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Grand Chief David Harper was also in attendance at the historic signing, and shared his thoughts with those gathered.
"In Regina there is so much happening [with the urban reserve there]. There's this prosperity that's happening in the cities and towns that are open to First Nation business," he explains. "One of the things we're lacking in Manitoba is the urban reserve concept. Most businesses would move to the south. But this community here came North, and that says something. We will work hand-in-hand as the treaties were signed to coexist and we will do business together."
