Qalipu negotiator says applications overwhelming

A federal negotiator has been hired to tighten the enrolment guidelines on the Qalipu First Nation, and says the people who have already been accepted as members don't need to worry for now.

Approximately 70,000 people are waiting to hear if their applications for membership have been accepted to the landless Mi'kmaq band.

Fred Caron, the negotiator recently brought in, said the number of applicants was a surprise to everyone.

"Obviously the number of applications overwhelmed the current agreement," Caron said. "The way that the agreement was drafted, it created a process for judging enrolments, and nobody could have anticipated this kind of number, and the process was overwhelmed."

He said he is currently looking at ways to modify the guidelines to be more effective.

"The agreement contains a process where it can be amended or changed," Caron said. "What we're trying to do iscome up with a fair process that's going to make sure that these applications are treated justly."

According to Caron, the numbers were simply unprecedented.

"I've never seen anything like those kind of numbers," he added.

"We don't encourageit wasn't our job to go out and find applicants or to discourage people, it was basically saying, look, if you think you meet these criteria then you're welcome to apply, so what we can control is the number that get admitted," Caron said.