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OTTAWA – An Algonquin band in western Quebec is suing the federal government saying it owns Parliament Hill.

The Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, an Algonquin band based in Maniwaki, Que., filed suit Wednesday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice seeking an order that it is the title holder to what it calls the Kichi Sibi Lands, land that includes the Parliament buildings and the Supreme Court.

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Kitigan Zibi’s chief and council filed the suit in frustration at the slow pace of negotiations with the federal government over what even Liberal government ministers in the House of Commons frequently acknowledge is Algonquin territory.

“There have been ongoing discussions with the National Capital Commission but they’re going nowhere,” said Kitigan Zibi Chief Jean Guy Whiteduck. The National Capital Commission (NCC) is the federal organization responsible for administering the lands and buildings where federal institutions in the capital are located.

The NCC, the federal government and the government of Ontario are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Kitigan Zibi is part of an Algonquin group that claims the entire Ottawa Valley but Whiteduck said the lawsuit his band filed this week is “site-specific” in the hope that it gets the attention of Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett.