Guidelines for Funding Claims at the Specific Claims Tribunal of Canada

On this page

• Introduction
• Eligible recipients
• Eligible expenses
• Non-eligible expenses
• Process for accessing funding

Introduction

Contribution funding to support First Nations participation in the processes of the Specific Claims Tribunal of Canada is provided each year by a parliamentary allocation. There is no guarantee that funds will be available for all requests or that all eligible expenses will be supported. Funding will be provided annually on a case by case basis. While funding for participation in proceedings of the tribunal will not be provided through multi-year agreements, every effort will be made to accommodate First Nations who are participating at the tribunal across two fiscal years.

All funding requests related to the tribunal proceedings must be approved prior to any costs being incurred. If prior approval is not received then First Nations must be prepared to take responsibility for the costs since the department cannot fund expenditures that a First Nation incurs outside of these guidelines.

The provision of contribution funding for the participation in the process of the tribunal is subject to the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, s.13(2), which states that: "The tribunal shall deduct from any award of costs in favour of the claimant, any amount provided to the claimant by the Crown for the purpose of bringing the claim before the tribunal."

These guidelines are subject to change and will evolve with the tribunal and to meet the needs of First Nations participating at the tribunal.

Eligible recipients

Eligible recipients are First Nations participating in the Specific Claims Tribunal process.

Eligible expenses

All funding support will be provided based on an approved descriptive budget submitted by the eligible recipient. All eligible expenses should be reasonable and consistent with activities required to comply with the rules of practice and procedure of the tribunal.

Examples of eligible expenses include, but are not limited to the following:

• attending tribunal proceedings such as:
  • case management conferences
  • pre-hearing conferences
  • hearings
  • oral examinations
• legal expenses relating to tribunal proceedings such as:
  • case management conferences
  • pre-hearing conferences
  • hearings
  • oral examinations
  • preparation of witnesses
  • preparation and review of documentation
• expenses relating to witnesses and interpreters who attend tribunal proceedings such as:
  • case management conferences
  • pre-hearing conferences
  • hearings
  • oral examinations

A First Nation may apply for contribution funding to cover eligible expenses listed above more than once, if it is deemed required by the tribunal. For example, there may be multiple case management conferences required so the First Nation can apply for the expenses for each case management conference.

Non-eligible expenses

Non-eligible expenses include, but are not limited to:

• research (for example: legal, historical, etc.) that was previously funded

Process for accessing funding

Requests for funding must be made in the format of a descriptive budget, which contains a reasonable breakdown of anticipated expenses such as:

• fees, specifically the daily rate and the expected number of days for each participant (for example: First Nation, legal, witness, interpreter)
• travel expenses for each participant (for example: First Nation, legal, witness, interpreter)
• the expected proceedings that an expense is for (for example: the number of case management conferences, a pre-hearing conference, the number of expected hearings, oral examinations, etc.)

Requests must be accompanied by evidence of a claim having been referred to the tribunal, for example, a copy of the Declaration of Claim and the acknowledgement of recipient from the tribunal.

Requests for funding should be sent by January 1 of each year, at the latest, in order to allow sufficient time for processing, to:

Shélie Laforest
Director, Negotiation Funding Support Directorate
Fiscal Branch, Treaties and Aboriginal Government
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
10 rue Wellington, Room 8G1
Gatineau QC K1A 0H4

Email: aadnc.unitedufinancement-nego-fundingunit-nego.aandc@canada.ca