| Friends of the Lubicon PO Box 444 Stn D, Etobicoke ON M9A 4X4 Tel: (416) 763-7500 Email: fol (at) tao (dot) ca www.lubicon.ca |
May 19, 2005
Yesterday Alberta Liberal Opposition Member Maurice Tougas questioned the Alberta government in the Legislature on their continued failure to conclude a land rights agreement with the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation.
Alberta Justice Minister Ron Stevens and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Pearl Calahesan both dodged questions about whether the government will account for royalties collected from resources extracted in Lubicon Traditional Territory in any settlement. They also dodged questions about why the Lubicon Nation was not consulted when the province issued oil sands exploration leases in the heart of their unceded Traditional Territory.
A transcript of the exchange is attached below.
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May 18, 2005
Alberta Hansard
Lubicon Band Land Claim
Mr. Tougas: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unresolved land claims affect all Albertans. Companies can't rely on leases and permits issued by the provincial government as disputed territory is not owned by the province. Blockades, unrest, and the loss of important cultures are unavoidable due to this government's unwillingness to tackle tough issues, particularly the continuing tragedy of the Lubicon nation. My question is to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. Given that this government has had over 50 years to help negotiate a land claim settlement with the Lubicons and that the government's own consultation process is little more than window dressing, why has this government not been more vocal in publicly urging the federal government to negotiate a settlement with the Lubicon nation?
The Speaker: The hon. minister.
Mr. Stevens: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The matter of the Lubicon is within my ministry, so I will address this question. As you know, the federal government is principally responsible for the negotiations with respect to First Nation land claims, and in this particular case that is true also. The federal government last had negotiations in this matter some 18 months ago. The provincial government has always indicated that we are prepared to be at the table if asked. We were at the table at that time. The fact of the matter is that the negotiations reached an impasse, and that is why there has not been any negotiation for some time.
Mr. Tougas: Well, back to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development: given that once Lubicon land is transferred back to the federal government at the resolution of the outstanding land claim, what is being done to ensure that royalties collected by this government from subsurface extraction are available to the Lubicon nation?
Mr. Stevens: What I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, with respect to this matter is that there have been certain parameters with respect to the negotiations that have been established subject to confirmation; for example, the claim of the Lubicon is for a band of some 400 and some odd persons, and as such a potential land claim based on the claim of the Lubicon has been tentatively set aside. That land has been identified. With respect to that particular land, as I understand it, there have been no transactions of any nature whatsoever for some period of time. That particular land that is potentially part of a settlement, based on discussions to this point in time, has been set aside and has been recognized as the potential land for the purposes.
Mr. Tougas: My final supplementary is definitely to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. Will the minister explain to the Lubicon nation why her department failed to consult the band about development occurring at Sawn Lake?
The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Justice and Attorney General.
Mr. Stevens: Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I think that the opposition have to understand that I will be standing and addressing Lubicon matters because of a very clear potential conflict. That very clear potential conflict, as I understand it, is that the hon. Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development is a potential claimant in this claim; in other words, she may well be qualified as a Lubicon claimant. Now, whether that is true or not, I don't know, but I know it is a potential. As such, I am going to be addressing this matter because she cannot.
fol-request at masses.tao.ca