TORONTO - Ottawa's attempt to clear a backlog of more than 900 aboriginal land and treaty claims won't diffuse the mounting frustration fuelling blockades and occupations in Ontario, the province's aboriginal affairs minister said Wednesday.

Michael Bryant said the new legislation introduced Tuesday in Ottawa won't apply to the vast majority of the province's aboriginal land claims, including some of its most problematic and high-profile cases.

"It's useful for the very few claims that involve money and only money,'' Bryant said. "As it stands, the bill will not address Ontario land claims, like the one affecting Haudenosaunee Six Nations in Caledonia.''

If passed, the federal legislation would create an independent tribunal of six Superior Court judges to make binding decisions on specific claims that were rejected or have dragged on for at least three years.

But Bryant said the province and the federal government have got to come up with a better -- and faster -- way of settling land claims if they want to avoid future occupations and blockades in Ontario.

The current process of settling aboriginal land claims is "unacceptable,'' both for private landowners and for aboriginal communities who feel they have a legitimate claim, he said. Current delays -- some as long as 20 years -- just increase frustration in aboriginal communities, he added.

"It's having a highly detrimental impact overall in the relationship and it leads to protests and blockades and the things that are not helpful at all to either side,'' Bryant said. "The resolution of treaty claims is the biggest roadblock to the long-term relationship.''

But Bryant said he's still encouraged that the federal government is acknowledging the issue and seems willing to find other ways to speed up Ontario claims. Bryant said spoke to Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl Tuesday about the need to address Ontario's land claims.

"The desire by the federal government to work with Ontario to expedite the federal claims is very positive,'' he said.

Strahl said the new impartial process is a "powerful new tool'' that addresses decades of criticism.

The current system of resolving land claims was under fire for years -- not just because it takes an average of 13 years to settle a case -- but because the federal government acts as both a defendant and a judge.

The new bill was co-authored by Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. The bill will now to First Nations across Canada for review and chiefs will discuss it at a December assembly meeting.

Some estimate it will take more than 12 years to clear the backlog of claims given fewer than 20 cases are settled a year under the current system.