Land deal could prevent rail blockade

The chief of the Roseau River First Nation says a new land deal with Ottawa has him ready to call off a planned rail blockade.

Terry Nelson says federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice has agreed to grant reserve status to 30 hectares of land the band owns on Highway 6 at the Perimeter Highway, just northwest of Winnipeg.

"It's great because it's the first concrete action that I've seen for Roseau River in a long, long time," he said.

"I feel quite a lot more comfortable that we do have a minister of Indian affairs that I sit down and talk with and deal with, and that we will probably be able to work through a bit more with him," he said.

Nelson had threatened to block CN and CP rail lines on his reserve, 80 kilometres south of Winnipeg, on June 29,when First Nations leaders plan a day of action to focus attention on aboriginal issues, including poverty and outstanding land claims.

Nelson says he still must consult his community before calling off the blockade, but he's confident Ottawa will now start to act on outstanding land claims.

Nelson hopes the band will have a gas station built on the property by this summer, with other businesses to follow.

"It is 135 years,10 months,10 days later that we finallygot a piece of the land that we were entitled to in 1871, so it's a long time in getting here," he said.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the federal government will table a bill in the fall to improve the native land claims system and settle hundreds of long-standing disputes.

The proposed bill allocates $250 million a year for 10 years to land claim settlements and calls for the creation of a new independent tribunal that will make final decisions about disputes.