Calls for change to Winnipeg's treaty annuity payment event after feds underestimate attendance

The federal government says they miscalculated demand for treaty annuity payments at The Forks this year, after long lineups forced some people to leave empty-handed, and First Nations Winnipeggers want to see changes in how the annual event is rolled out.

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) doles out $5 cash payments annually to status Indians affiliated with the 11 numbered treaties signed between First Nation communities and the Crown from 1871 to 1921, excluding Treaty 9 in Ontario, whose citizens receive $4.

This year's event at The Forks ran for five days between June 7 to 13. Robert Easter took time off of work to pick up six years worth of annuity payments on June 9, but says he was turned away due to long lineups.

"Having it [take place] on weekdays, between 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., and then [having] such a limited amount of capacity created issues for people who took time out of their work schedule or child-care to go down there," Easter, a member of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, told CBC News.

On June 12, he tried to download a direct deposit form on ISC's website to receive his annuities, but said he could not access it due to technical difficulties. "It actually wasn't working at all … it slowed my computer down, and I ended up having to restart it."

Easter wanted to collect his payments out of principle to show how the treaties are still important to him as an Indigenous person. He said he was able to get his payments in-person at The Forks the following day, but had to endure a two-hour wait in the heat first.

Easter said he felt discouraged from collecting his treaty annuities because of the long lineups, lack of advertising for the event, the hours offered to pick up the payments and technical difficulties on ISC's website.

"It was an inconvenience, like the whole thing was an inconvenience."

Most in-person treaty payment events, including the one at The Forks, were cancelled between 2020 and 2022 due to pandemic health restrictions, an ISC spokesperson said in a statement to CBC News.

Payment demand 'incorrectly estimated': ISC

Demand for treaty annuity payments at The Forks this year was "incorrectly estimated," according to the spokesperson. They said 15 staff doled out a total of $234,185 to 8,070 people over five days. 

Lineups were cut short during the first three days of the event to prevent heat-related illness and to respect scheduled closing times, the spokesperson said. No one was turned away during the final two days of the event.

"We sincerely regret any inconvenience that has been caused."

Planning for the treaty annuity payment event at The Forks is currently being reviewed by departmental officials and event management partners. Recommendations stemming from that review will be used to guide 15 upcoming urban payment events set to take place across the country until September, according to the ISC spokesperson.

Many First Nations-led, on-reserve events will also be held during that period, they said.

ISC aware of technical issues

Unclaimed annuity payments are rolled over and held in trust by the government until they are collected, according to the spokesperson.

ISC will also keep in mind that many people have not collected their annuities since before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to distribute higher than usual amounts at remaining payment events this year, they said.

Renata Meconse went to pick up her annuities at The Forks on two separate days, but left each time after realizing how long the wait would be. The member of Pinaymootang First Nation says she has been trying to download the direct deposit form for years and on several computers without success.

Troubleshooting directions to access the form are provided on ISC's page, which shows "how hard it is to open the file," she told CBC News.

The ISC spokesperson said they are aware of technical issues involving the online direct deposit form and have been working to make it more accessible. Paper copies of the form are available at all Indigenous Services Canada/Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada regional offices and were available at the event at The Forks.

CBC News was unable to view the online direct deposit form through a web browser and was instead shown an error message that says to use Adobe's Acrobat Reader software to open up the form.

The form was accessed successfully upon opening it with Acrobat Reader, but Meconse says that can create barriers for people who are not computer literate or who don't even have a computer. Both Easter and Meconse want easier online access to the form.

They would also like to see Winnipeg's treaty annuity payment events moved to an indoor location in the future. While The Forks is a historic site, Meconse says an indoor event would protect people from the elements and smooth out the process of distributing payments that were promised in the treaties.

"I know it doesn't seem like it's important, but it is symbolic," she said.