By Andrew Hanon, Sun Media
One of Canada's most notorious native land-claim disputes will be brought to the provincial legislature on Friday as part of a national day of protest.
The Edmonton-based Friends of the Lubicon Alberta plan a demonstration to draw attention to the century-old dispute between the federal government and the 400-member band, who live 100 km east of Peace River.
The Lubicon were missed by government agents when treaties were signed with other bands in the area around 1900 and they have been fighting for their traditional land ever since.
They have no reserve land. Their impoverished community has no running water, and they claim oil exploration and forestry activity has contaminated local lakes and streams and devastated the wildlife they have depended on for food and income from trapping.
A representative of the band will be at Friday's demonstration. The Friends of the Lubicon Alberta is the local chapter of a Toronto-based lobby group.
"We want to get this issue back on the public agenda.", Colin piquette of the friends of the Lubicon organization
Group spokesman Colin Piquette said the Lubicons' situation is a national disgrace that most Albertans know very little about, even though the United Nations and the World Council of Churches have condemned it.
"We want to get this issue back on the public agenda," he said. "It's actually mystifying that it's not higher profile."
Meanwhile, Canada's native leaders hope their national day of protest will be dramatic enough to draw attention to poverty on reserves, stalled land claims and other issues, yet most insist they aren't thinking blockades or confrontation.
"We don't want to cause a major disruption in the lives of Canadians, but at the same time, we also want to make sure they understand that this is a crisis," Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said in an interview last week from Ottawa.
"First Nations poverty is not just a burden on our communities. It's a burden on the country."
Many native leaders say they want to gain public support and avoid disruptions.
"By and large, I think the vast majority of the First Nations and aboriginal people are committed to building support through establishing solidarity with many other socially responsible Canadians," said Grand Chief Stewart Philip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, who plans to take part in a peaceful march in downtown Vancouver.
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