Kevin Klein: It’s time to face facts about land rights in Canada

The path forward for Indigenous people is not through perpetual transfers of land or money with no clear results

By Kevin Klein, Special to National Post

Published Nov 03, 2025

Last updated 4 days ago

4 minute read

185 Comments

Re-printed without permission.

Too often, emotion and ideology drown out fact. We hear claims that Indigenous peoples own all of Canada and that every acre of this country was stolen. That is not true, and repeating it does not make it true. The assertion rests on selective readings of history and law that ignore the foundation of our country: negotiated treaties, court rulings, and shared development built over 150 years.

Between 1871 and 1921, the Numbered Treaties covered most of Canada from Ontario to British Columbia. Those agreements, such as Treaty 1 here in Manitoba, were not casual arrangements. They were binding contracts in which Indigenous leaders ceded land in exchange for defined rights, including reserves, annuities, hunting privileges, and ongoing benefits. These are not opinions; they are legal documents recognized by Canada’s highest courts.

Pre-Confederation treaties followed the same model. From the Royal Proclamation of 1763 through the Robinson Treaties of 1850, Indigenous signatories agreed — sometimes under hardship and population pressure — but the agreements remain valid. The Privy Council confirmed this in St. Catherine’s Milling and Lumber Co. v. The Queen (1888), a decision that still underpins Canadian property law today.

Roughly 90 per cent of Canada’s land has been ceded through about 70 historic treaties or modern agreements. The remaining 10 per cent, mostly in parts of British Columbia and the North, is subject to case-by-case legal proof. The Supreme Court’s Tsilhqot’in decision in 2014 confirmed that Aboriginal title exists only where continuous, exclusive occupation before and after sovereignty can be proven — not everywhere by default.

The demographic reality is just as clear. Before European contact, Canada’s Indigenous population likely numbered between 500,000 and 2 million — less than one person per five square kilometres. Many communities were nomadic or shared hunting areas. That does not diminish their cultures, but it shows that vast regions were not permanently owned in any modern legal sense.

Today, Canada is home to 38 million people, with Indigenous peoples representing about five per cent. No serious legal system, here or anywhere, recognizes a claim that five per cent of a population owns 100 per cent of the land. Even the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples prohibits any claim that would undermine a state’s territorial integrity.

We need to remember that treaties are contracts. When you sell your house, you cannot go back decades later and demand part of it back because property values rose. That is not how agreements work. It is not reasonable, and it is not fair to anyone.

Being honest about history does not mean ignoring the hardship Indigenous peoples face today. It means asking the right questions. Canada spends over $32 billion every year on Indigenous programs and services. Yet many reserves still lack clean water, have deteriorating housing, and struggle with addiction and unemployment. That money is supposed to make a difference, so where is it going?

Accountability must be at the core of reconciliation. Too much of the funding process filters through layers of bureaucracy and political organizations that claim to speak for everyone but do not. If the system truly worked, we would not still be talking about the same problems after decades of spending.

The goal should be empowerment, not dependency. The federal government and Indigenous leadership need to ensure that funds reach people directly — families, communities, and small entrepreneurs who want to build their futures — not a select few leaders or consultants who benefit from endless negotiations.

There are real models of success out there. Look at the Seminole Tribe of Florida. They began with almost nothing, descendants of a few hundred who escaped U.S. removal in the 1800s. They built self-governing structures, pursued business ventures, and eventually created a global enterprise. From cattle ranching to citrus farms and gaming, their focus was self-reliance.

Their 2006 purchase of Hard Rock International for $965 million turned them into a global brand. The wealth they generated did not vanish into bureaucracy. It went back to their people through housing, healthcare, education, and direct financial support. The result is one of the most prosperous Indigenous communities in the world.

That is the path forward — economic independence built on accountability and enterprise, not perpetual transfers of land or money with no clear results. Indigenous communities across Canada can do the same when given real ownership of outcomes, not just symbolic ownership of land.

We can and should respect Indigenous cultures and rights. But respect does not mean surrendering reason. It means treating all citizens with honesty and fairness. We cannot rebuild a country by rewriting history or by assigning collective guilt for events centuries past. True reconciliation recognizes what was agreed, what has been delivered, and what must still be done to ensure opportunity for every Indigenous person.

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The question we should ask is not who owns Canada — it’s how we ensure that every Canadian, Indigenous or otherwise, has a fair shot at prosperity, safety, and dignity. That is what real justice looks like.

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Canada will only move forward when we stop letting guilt and political theatre replace fact and principle. It is time to be adults again, to respect the truth, uphold the treaties that built our country, and demand accountability for the future we share.

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