Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is not just about the rest of Canada recognizing past injustices in words. There is a cost attached to reconciliation – one that is showing up increasingly, if not entirely clearly, in the federal budget.
Ottawa has been tracking a portion of the rising price tag for claims and pending and possible litigation under existing treaties – under a budget line called “contingent liabilities.”
That’s the running tally of settlements-to-be in any given year. In the fall budget, the federal government said it is “advancing reconciliation, supporting Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination, and addressing historical wrongs and systemic racism” with over $60-billion in spending since 2016.
Contingent liabilities are an opaque accounting and do not spell out the actual cost of modern-day reconciliation – more transparency would help Canadians understand not only that the bill is coming due, but that each year of delay adds to costs.
The vast majority of Canada’s contingent liabilities relate to Indigenous land claims and related litigation. Canada earmarked $54.7-billion for such settlements in the fiscal year 2024-25, up from almost $12.6 billion in 2016.
One such liability that might be included – or might not, the federal government won’t say – stems from the 2025 BC Supreme Court ruling on the Cowichan Tribes’ claim to privately owned lands in Richmond, B.C. Those properties are currently assessed at more than $1.3 billion. The decision is being appealed, but landowners will be looking to the Crown to assume liability.
Read the full editorial at the Globe and Mail: The real (and rising) cost of Indigenous reconciliation
Or read the PDF version below