After more than a decade of court wrangling and negotiation, the federal government and Treaty 1 First Nations have reached an agreement in principle on Winnipeg's Kapyong Barracks.
The announcement came from seven First Nations and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan on Wednesday morning in front of a crowd of hundreds at Assiniboina Downs.
"This is really happening," Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellgrade said. "It's not just words. The land's coming back. …This is an example of reconciliation in action."
Seven Treaty 1 First Nations chiefs were involved in the negotiations, including Dennis Meeches of Long Plain First Nation, Jim Bear of Brokenhead Ojibway Nation; Glenn Hudson of Peguis First Nation; Craig Alexander from Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation; Derrick Henderson of Sagkeeng First Nation; Lance Roulette of Sandy Bay First Nation; and Francine Meeches from Swan Lake First Nation.
The agreement is an important milestone and will be used to develop a final settlement agreement, which will include terms for the sale and future use of the property, said Sajjan.
"We still have a lot of work ahead of us but as minister of national defence, I will stay closely engaged as we develop a final settlement agreement," he told the crowd.
Don't be afraid: Bellegarde
Bellegarde told the crowd that the City of Winnipeg should embrace the idea of a new urban reserve for the city.
"We have over 100 urban reserves in Saskatchewan, and they create jobs and employment opportunities and economic development zones," he said.
An urban reserve will mean economic opportunities for the city and First Nations, said Chief Henderson.
"We want to show the citizens of Winnipeg that we can be progressive in a good way," said Henderson. "There's many urban reserves in Canada that are very progressive and that's the lead that we want to take also."
The national defence department said it's too early to speculate on the future of the land, but a priority for Winnipeg is widening Kenaston Boulevard. The city made plans in 2012 to increase Kenaston to six lanes, but it needs to acquire 30 parcels of the Kapyong site to do it.
Meeches, speaking on behalf of the other six chiefs, said he hopes negotiations with the city will begin shortly.
In the meantime, demolition of buildings and infrastructure on site will continue by the department of national defence. The department started demolishing homes on Kenaston Avenue earlier this year. Demolition is expected to take two years and will be completed in two phases.
Base abandoned
Kapyong was abandoned in 2004, when the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry moved from the military base near Kenaston and Grant to the Canadian Forces Base in Shilo, Man.
The Canadian Forces then declared the site surplus, and the federal Treasury Board tried to sell it to a Crown Corporation.
That decision was challenged in court by the group of Treaty 1 First Nations, saying outstanding Treaty Land Entitlement claims meant they had a right to the site.
The land was estimated to be worth between $65-$90 million in 2015, depending on zoning and land use.
The land transfer was ruled illegitimate, and the federal government fought the decision, before in 2015 then prime minister Stephen Harper announced that the government would no longer continue to appeal the decision.
"We've come out of a very long, unnecessary journey," Meeches said.
"A lot of this could have been achieved a long time ago, but obviously land claims are very, very complicated. It's unfortunate it had to take this long. We're hoping to move pretty quick on what the future holds for Kapyong."