Better to ignore such spurious claims. I wouldn’t put much stock in the leadership of most of these Native organizations as they are the equivalent of Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson in the US. Always ready to milk a situation for their own agenda, which often does not coincide with the best interests of their constituents. Many Indian leaders make non-stop claims for cash and other support, yet have next to no accountability over the finances that they oversee. In a local band in my home province, the chief and the band council members paid themselves more than the prime minister in yearly salary, yet continued to complain that the government was not doing enough to fix housing on the reserves. Where was all the money going? Anybody who questioned the unaccountability was called a racist.

Yes, absolutely, Curzon. I’m all for settling as many land claims as possible, and doing it now, but this is ridiculous.