A new report from the Fraser Institute has raised alarms about the escalating costs and inefficiencies of Canada’s specific claims process. Specific Claims: An Out-of-Control Program, penned by Tom Flanagan, Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary, details how the federal government’s handling of Indigenous claims has led to a surge in settlements, with $7.1 billion paid out in fiscal year 2024/25 alone. Flanagan argues that the process has become a "perpetual motion machine" generating ever-larger claims with little transparency.“Specific claims are based on the government’s alleged failure to abide by provisions of the Indian Act or a treaty,” Flanagan writes. He contends that the process to resolve them, which began in 1974, should have wrapped up by now.The government settled 69 claims in fiscal 2024/25 for a total of $7.1 billion, up from just 15 claims worth $36 million in 2014/15. Flanagan believes Jody Wilson-Raybould is partly to blame for the “enormous increase” in settlements. In 2019, she issued a practice directive instructing the Department of Justice to prioritize negotiation over litigation. “Counsel’s primary goal must be to resolve the issues, using the court process as a last resort,” it stated.“The Department of Justice has been tied up by this directive,” Flanagan said. “It’s essentially been told to settle rather than scrutinize claims rigorously.”“Cows and plows” claims have proliferated in recent years. They allege that agricultural assistance promised in treaties — such as cattle, seed grain, and farming implements — was never delivered or was of poor quality. In 2024/25, 23 agricultural claims accounted for $3.656 billion.“These claims apply compound interest to promises made over a century ago,” Flanagan explained. “A cow not delivered in 1873 can turn into tens or hundreds of millions today.”The number of claims under assessment or negotiation rose from 399 in 2017 to 718 in 2024, with the total backlog increasing from 532 to 792.“When they see larger settlements, they go back and look for new grievances,” Flanagan said of indigenous groups.Flanagan estimates that First Nations’ settlement trusts, which manage funds not distributed to band members, could exceed $20 billion.“These trusts are becoming so large that public disclosure is in the public interest,” he writes. “Canadians, including First Nations, deserve a clearer insight into these funds.”The Blood Nation in Southern Alberta, which received a $150 million settlement in 2021 for a “cows and plows” claim, distributed $3,000 to each of its 13,000 members, totaling $39 million. “The rest likely went into a settlement trust, but we don’t know for sure because they stopped filing financial reports after 2022,” Flanagan said.Flanagan argues that enforcing the First Nations Transparency Act, which allows the government to withhold grants from non-compliant bands, could address this issue.The report also critiques a reform proposal by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), which calls for an Independent Centre for the Resolution of Specific Claims (ICRSC). The AFN’s plan would place the entire claims process under an independent body, with joint appointments by the AFN and the government.“This proposal would turn a slow-moving trainwreck into a full-fledged disaster,” Flanagan writes, arguing it would increase costs by removing government oversight and eliminating caps on settlements, such as the current $150 million limit for the Specific Claims Tribunal.The AFN proposal also advocates recognizing Indigenous legal systems, which raises alarm bells for Flanagan.“No Canadian First Nations were literate before European contact, so their laws are based on oral tradition,” he explained. “An Elder might claim a treaty meant something different from its written text, like sharing land instead of surrendering it.” Such reinterpretations could open new avenues for claims, he argues.Flanagan recommends setting a three-year deadline for new claims and repealing the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, forcing future claims into regular courts.Canada’s contingent liabilities rose from $15 billion in 2015 to $76 billion by 2023, with $23.6 billion tied to specific claims. In 2024, a Parliamentary Budget Office report said of such liabilities, “It is often nearly impossible to understand whether a provision has been accrued and expensed.”With Canada’s debt past $1.255 trillion, Flanagan warns, “If we don’t act now, the costs will only escalate further, with Canadian taxpayers footing the bill.”
