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Blood Tribe gets $150 million from Ottawa for cattle mismanagement

Southern Alberta’s Blood Tribe will get a big chunk of cash after coming to an agreement with the federal government to compensate the local First Nation for mismanagement of cattle decades ago.

Chief Roy Fox was in Calgary Thursday, June 4 to sign the agreement with Canada’s Indigenous Relations Minister.

Fox says the Blood Tribe is pleased to have finally reached a settlement of this long outstanding claim concerning events which occurred in the early 1900’s. “We look forward to finalizing the settlement agreement and moving forward with its implementation. In the true spirit of reconciliation we hope to have the same success with other land claims and initiatives in progress.”

The specific claim deals with Crown mismanagement of the First Nation’s assets and resources related to cattle ranching on their reserve from 1894 to 1923. The settlement includes approximately $150 million in financial compensation.

Chief Fox stated Thursday that $123 million from the cattle claim settlement will be used for housing, capital works, a new administration building and a new skating rink on the reserve.

Minister Carolyn Bennett says this settlement was achieved in a true spirit of partnership and renewal, is a key step toward healing and reconciliation with the Blood Tribe. “It helps to right past wrongs and pave the way to a better future for First Nation community members for many generations to come.”

Negotiations between Canada and the Blood Tribe to resolve this claim began in 2011.

Patrick Siedlecki
Patrick Siedlecki
Pat has been a mainstay in the CJOC News department from the time the station launched in 2007. He's been in the position of News Director since then and has been anchoring daily news casts as well as reporting and working behind the scenes. Community is important to him and keeping CJOC listeners and readers informed about what's happening across southern Alberta and beyond. Pat has been in radio broadcasting for the past 24 years, starting in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in 1997 and then moving up island to Nanaimo for another few years before heading to Lethbridge in 2007. Pat grew up in the small Saskatchewan farming town of Foam Lake. After high school, he went to Western Academy Broadcasting College (WABC) in Saskatoon prior to moving to the island. Pat also spent several years broadcasting hockey in the BCHL as well as seven years as the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Pat has been working at Cornerstone Funeral Home in Lethbridge as a Certified Life Celebrant and Funeral Assistant since 2016. News and sports have always been Pat's passion from the time he was a teenager and he's always been grateful to have had the opportunity to make that part of what's been a fun and long radio career!
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