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
December 22, 2005
Press coverage on the recent Amnesty International report entitled "It is time to comply: Canada’s Record of Unimplemented UN Human Rights Recommendations" is attached below.
Indian Affairs spokesperson Glen Luff provides a completely inverted rationale for Canada’s failure to restart negotiations with the Lubicon Nation. He alleges that the Lubicon Nation -- rather than Canada -- is unwilling to negotiate self-government as part of a Lubicon settlement.
Lubicon Nation Councilor Dwight Gladue refuted Luff’s comments in a letter to the editor, also attached below.
December 21, 2005
Edmonton Sun
Talk urged
Liberals slammed for failing to implement UN recommendations for Lubicon settlement
By DARCY HENTON, LEGISLATURE BUREAU
Amnesty International Canada has stepped into the election ring to pressure party leaders to resolve the Lubicon land claim in northern Alberta.
The human rights group is calling on federal politicians to make the implementation of United Nations Human Rights recommendations a priority.
"This issue has been very long-standing," Amnesty spokesman Elizabeth Berton-Hunter said yesterday. "They issued a report about this in 1990 which has still not been addressed."
The UN Human Rights committee called on Canada 15 years ago to "make every effort to resume negotiations with the Lubicon" and to "consult with the band before granting licences for economic exploitation of the disputed land."
Lubicon adviser Kevin Thomas took a swipe at Prime Minister Paul Martin yesterday for refusing to implement the 15-year-old recommendation.
"If any other government snubbed the UN human rights committee the way Canada does, the prime minister would be the first in line to condemn them," he said.
He said the failure to implement the recommendation is giving Canada a black eye internationally.
"I hope not," said Glenn Luff, a spokesman for Indian Affairs and Northern Development. "We've made every effort possible to return to the negotiating table."
He said Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott invited the Lubicon back to the table in June, but they rejected the invitation because of the federal government's insistence that the inherent right to self-government has to be negotiated.
Alberta has set aside land for the band, but has not been a party to any negotiations for six years, said Aboriginal Affairs spokesman Jason Gariepy.
"We've always been eager to be involved and active in the negotiations, but we have to be invited," he said.
Alberta Liberal David Swann said it's time to resolve the 66-year-old dispute.
"It has such a large cost to the people there and to our reputation, and to our environment," he said.
Editor
Edmonton Sun
Fax: 780-468-0139
Like federal negotiators on whom he undoubtedly depends for his information, Indian Affairs spokesman Glen Luff can never quite bring himself to tell the truth. Pressed for reaction to a December 19th Amnesty International report condemning Canada for failure to respect a decision by the UN Human Rights Committee calling upon Canada to "make every effort to resume negotiations with the Lubicon Lake Band with a view to finding a solution which respects the rights of the Band under the (International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights)", Mr. Luff is quoted in the December 21st edition of the Edmonton Sun as claiming that the Martin government has "made every effort to return to the negotiating table", and that "Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott invited the Lubicon back to the table in June but they rejected the federal government’s invitation because of the federal government’s insistence that the inherent right to self-government has to be negotiated".
In fact federal negotiators have flatly refused to discuss self-government as part of a settlement of Lubicon land rights, and Mr. Scott’s June 23rd letter only offers the Lubicons the "option" of either "resuming negotiations under the current mandate" -- which does not include negotiation of self-government -- or waiting an indeterminate period of time while the government explores "the possibility that the Negotiation Roundtable work (with the AFN) may result in recommendations to the (government’s) Inherent Rights Policy that could possibly address the concerns (the Lubicon people) have expressed regarding self-government".
This consistent and demonstrable failure of representatives of the federal government to speak the truth, both at the negotiating table and publicly, makes productive negotiations with the Canadian government exceedingly difficult and raises serious questions about whether the Canadian government is sincerely interested in achieving a settlement of Lubicon land rights.
ORIGINAL SIGNED BY
Dwight Gladue
Councilor
Lubicon Lake Indian Nation
A copy of Minister Scott’s June 23, 2005 letter to Chief Ominayak can be found here.
Chief Ominayak’s July 7, 2005 reply can be found here.
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