Time to deal with Lubicon land claim: Getty

By CP

The Lubicon First Nation and former Alberta premier Don Getty are calling on the federal government to finally resolve the band’s 67-year-old land claim.

Lubicon spokesman Alphonse Ominayak says there have been no negotiations with Ottawa since 2003.

He says talks have been stalled over the issues of self-government and financial compensation for the 500-member northern Alberta Cree band.

Ominayak, who is in Edmonton for a rally at the Alberta legislature, accuses the federal government of deliberately stalling while the Lubicon people struggle to get by.

Getty, who signed an agreement with the band in 1988 and tried unsuccessfully to broker a final settlement with Ottawa, calls the impasse a disgrace.

The former premier says Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice is a good man who could earn the respect of aboriginals across Canada by quickly resolving the Lubicon land claim.

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