"HDI negotiating $5 million deal with NextEra, cease and desist order issued against Capital Power, company fails to consult"

The Haudenosaunee Devel­opment Institute could be raking in around $5 million a year through a potential re­newable energy project part­nership with NextEra Energy Canada Inc.

NextEra is proposing to build wind projects on unceded Six Nations lands through­out Southern Ontario, cov­ering an area even bigger than the 515-acre Samsung project, said HDI lawyer Aaron Detlor at a Confeder­acy meeting Saturday. The HDI is an arm of the Confed­eracy Council that manages, administers and oversees de­velopments within Six Na­tions treaty areas.

Detlor said the HDI is cur­rently waiting to hear back from NextEra on the com­pensation deal it's proposing with NextEra and he is con­fident Six Nations will get a piece of the pie.

"They've been a reasonable company to deal with," he said.

That's not the case with an­ other company the HDI is currently dealing with, Cap­ital Power, which Detlor says refuses to adequately com­pensate Six Nations for the use of its land just outside of Cambridge. The land in question does not sit within the Haldimand Tract, but just outside, on lands dedi­cated to Six Nations under the Nanfan Treaty of I701, he said.

The HDI had proposed be­coming a 50 per cent partner with Capital Power but the suggestion fell on deaf ears, said Detlor. Capital Power had come back with an offer of only $1 million a year in compensation but Detlor said that amount was not adequate.

"You can't expect us to settle for less than Samsung," he said, referring to band coun­cil's $55 million deal with Samsung Renewable Energy over a period of 20 years, or $2.75 million a year.

Capital Power had also of­fered Six Nations a one-time payment of $2.5 million but when compared with its es­timated $700 million profit over the project's lifetime, Detlor said that offer was a pittance.

The company "was very much take it or leave it," said Detlor.

He also revealed there was an "indication" Capital Power was negotiating a deal with elected council, as well.

The HDI has since gone to the company's board of di­rectors to try and negotiate a fair deal, he said, and told them the company has to fairly negotiate and compen­sate Six Nations.

He said the company could face a Confederacy imposed cease and desist order if the company attempts to con­tinue with the project with­out the consent of the Confederacy.

Detlor said the HDI is cur­rently in talks with about 10 different companies and en­tities over development proj­ects in Southern Ontario, whether on the Haldimand Tract, or in the Nanfan Treaty area.

They have scheduled meet­ings with Hydro One and Ni­agara Wind and were instructed by the Confeder­acy to issue cease and desist orders against the builders of a 407 expansion and a devel­opment in Brantford being led by Brookfield Homes.

Ironically, the owner of Brookfield Homes is the hus­band of former Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart, who also played a key role in the negotiations between the Confederacy and govern­ment officials in the after­math of the land reclamation in Caledonia in 2006.

Detlor said the company is planning a major develop­ment of homes within Six Nations' unceded Johnson Tract, north of Brantford, and that his discussions so far with the developer have been unfruitful.

Detlor said there was an in­dication band council was considering surrendering the lands in the Johnson Tract at a price of $ 100,000 for each home built in the develop­ment. He did not provide proof of the claim. Elected Chief Bill Montour denied the claim.

The Confederacy Council in­structed the HDI to issue cease and desist orders to Brookfield Homes, the Hwy. 407 expansion, and Capital Power.