A celebration was held today to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Treaty Land Entitlement Framework Agreement between the Federation of Soverign Indigenous Nations and both the provincial and federal government.
The TLE is the biggest treaty-based land claim in Canadian history.
It includes $440 million from the provincial and federal governments for First Nations in Saskatchewan to purchase land for development.
The agreement is aimed at addressing unfulfilled treaty promises.
"Here in our region, amongst our treaty territories, we are leading the way across the country in terms of land development, in terms of urban land entitlement," FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said.
"It's a success story."
Larry Doke, Sask.’s minister of government, was also at the event.
"You don't get many agreements that have gone 25 years without a whole bunch of changes. This was well thought out and I think the successes have been very good," Doke said.
As a result of the agreement, there is over 850,000 acres of new reserve land and over fifty urban reserves.
Urban reserves are areas of land in, or adjacent to, a city. The areas of land can be purchased by a First Nation for economic development and given reserve status from the federal government.
Urban reserves are meant to promote economic and employment opportunities for Indigenous people while contributing to the local economy.
Despite the agreement's success, Chief Bobby Cameron and Minister Doke said there are still improvements that can be made. More specifically, speeding up the process to designate land as reserve status.
