The Calgary Herald
Page: A22
Section: Opinion
Byline: Chief Bernard Ominayak and Alex Neve
On Tuesday in Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Committee asked the Canadian government the same question many have been asking for years: Why has the federal government consistently failed to negotiate a land rights settlement with the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation of northern Alberta?
It's been more than 100 years since treaty negotiators overlooked the Lubicon people when entering into treaty arrangements with other aboriginal peoples in northern Alberta.
It's been more than 65 years since Canada first promised to rectify the situation by creating a reserve at Lubicon Lake, and then failed to do so.
It's been more than 25 years since the first all-weather road was completed into the Lubicon territory, bringing with it intensive oil-and-gas exploitation throughout the area and massive social upheaval in this once-isolated community. While the Lubicon have been driven into poverty by the destruction of their hunting and trapping economy, it is reported that more than $13 billion in oil and gas resources have been taken out of their lands since 1979.
It's been 20 years since ex-justice minister and ex-B.C. Supreme Court Justice E. Davie Fulton was appointed by the federal government to make recommendations for settlement. Fulton concluded that a settlement should include "the widest powers of self-determination and self-government" and "a generous recognition and satisfactory resolution" of financial compensation claims.
And it's been more than 15 years since the United Nations Human Rights Committee concluded "historical inequities" and "more recent developments" have endangered the way of life and the culture of the Lubicon Nation. The Committee ruled that "so long as they continue" these threats are a violation of the Lubicons' fundamental human rights.
At the time, the Canadian government assured the Human Rights Committee that it was seeking a land rights settlement with the Lubicons -- a settlement that is needed to provide adequate housing with running water, support economic development and restore self-sufficiency to the Lubicon people.
To date, no such settlement has been reached.
In fact, since the Paul Martin government took office in December 2003, there haven't even been any negotiations towards such a settlement.
Now the UNHRC wants to know why. So do we.
Prior to taking office, Paul Martin wrote: "The settlement of the Lubicon Nation land claim has been a priority for the Government of Canada and must be effectively pursued until a mutually acceptable solution is negotiated."
In March 2004, Paul Martin's Indian Affairs Minister told Parliament "We intend to re-engage the Lubicon . . . at the end of the month. We will work hard to resolve those issues and reach an agreement."
And yet a year and a half later no talks have taken place. In fact, federal negotiators tell the Lubicon people that cabinet has not given them any mandate to discuss key outstanding issues with the Lubicon people.
In a 2003 report, Amnesty International called on the Government of Canada to make every effort to ensure a fair settlement is reached with the Lubicon Nation that ensures the protection of the Lubicon people's rights as required by international and national law. In this year's Annual Report, Amnesty International again noted that "The failure to reach a just resolution continued to contribute to violations of the rights of the Lubicon."
In response, opposition critics from the Bloc Quebecois, the Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party all called on the government to address this blot on Canada's human rights record by immediately re-starting negotiations towards a Lubicon settlement.
And still Paul Martin's government fails to act.
Tuesday, the federal government told United Nations Human Rights Committee they are willing to talk with the Lubicon people -- just not about either of the key outstanding issues of self-government and financial compensation. That's not a mandate to negotiate a full, fair and final settlement.
The committee's pointed questions suggest they weren't buying it. They've asked Canada for a further written answer on the subject.
Undoubtedly, as the committee considers Canada's record with regard to the Lubicon people, they will be reminded of Martin's comments to the UN General Assembly in September where he condemned the "empty rhetoric" of promises made but never acted on.
Canada has an outstanding United Nations obligation of its own. Martin must take action on the 1990 ruling that continued threats to the Lubicons' culture and way of life constitute a violation of Lubicon human rights.
Martin has told the United Nations "If we fail to act responsibly on the world stage, we will fail our own people at home."
The reverse is also true.
Bernard Ominayak is Chief of the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation. Alex Neve is the Secretary General of Amnesty International in Canada.
fol-request at masses.tao.ca