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 21, 2006
Attached please find a letter by Lubicon Councilor Dwight Gladue to the Peace River Record Gazette concerning the lack of running water in the Lubicon community.
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Tuesday December 19, 2006
Peace River Record-Gazette
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
As reported in Andrew Hanon's articles on the water situation in First Nation communities, the Lubicon people don't have any water or sewer system at all. All of our traditional sources of drinking water have been contaminated by multi-billion dollar gas and oil exploitation activity. Many of our people have been forced onto welfare by the destruction of our traditional hunting and trapping economy, have limited financial resources and don't own vehicles but have to somehow manage to get over 100 kilometres one way to buy bottled drinking water at a dollar a gallon. Some of our old people have to be physically helped to get to an outhouse, especially in the snow in -40C weather.
Indian Affairs spokesperson Kelly Payn is quoted as saying that the government is negotiating the difference between a $1.4 million Lubicon water and sewer proposal and a government offer of $250,000. Government spokespeople told another reporter that the government offered to provide Lubicons with water and sewer service but Lubicon leadership refused and is holding their own people hostage to get sympathy from international organizations. None of this is true.
The Lubicon proposal has a price tag of either $1.2 million or $2.4 million, depending upon which of two possible water sources proves most suitable. It included construction of a local water treatment facility and provision for local sewage disposal.
Federal officials agreed to the Lubicon proposal in June of 2005 but were then instructed not to proceed due to the outstanding claims issue. They have declined to specify what outstanding claims issue caused them to end earlier discussions.
In August of 2006 federal officials offered $250,000 and made a verbal commitment to try and come up with another $160,000. The federal offer would cover the cost of plumbing, water tanks, sewer tanks and upgrading of driveways necessary to deliver water and sewer services but would not provide either water or sewage disposal.
Federal officials propose to contract out water delivery and sewage disposal until a proposed 100km. long provincial pipeline is completed into the Lubicon area some time in the future estimated to be at least four or five years away. They say they are optimistic they will be able to find the additional $160,000 somewhere but are silent when they are asked where the money will come from to contract out water and sewage disposal until the proposed new provincial pipeline is completed.
The estimated tab for building a local water treatment facility and providing local sewage disposal is $350,000. The annual cost of hauling in the water and hauling out the sewage is between $410,000 and $60,000. In addition there's the significant cost of the proposed pipeline.
The costs of using the proposed pipeline to provide water would be far greater than the Lubicon proposal and would not deal with sewage disposal. Moreover the proposed provincial pipeline would put the Lubicon people under pressure to accept provincial jurisdiction over unceded Lubicon lands and jeopardize Lubicon land rights, while the Lubicon proposal is consistent with settlement of Lubicon land rights, would employ Lubicon people in providing their own basic services under duly elected Lubicon government and would provide equipment and infrastructure necessary to provide water and sewer service to the west end of the proposed Lubicon reserve contemplated in Lubicon settlement negotiations.
That may be why federal officials were instructed to end earlier discussions due to outstanding claims issue. Sadly neither level of Canadian government has ever been reluctant to spend tons of taxpayers money to undermine and subvert Lubicon land rights.
Ms. Payn is also quoted as saying that Lubicon land negotiations reached an impasse when the two sides couldn't agree on two main issues but that the federal government is always looking at ways to get back to the table. In fact all federal officials have to do is to agree to negotiate all outstanding settlement issues. Federal negotiators have refused to negotiate either self-government or financial compensation offering only to talk about this after the settlement of Lubicon land rights. This federal position would require the Lubicon people to give up rights to our valuable lands and resources before even talking about such essential elements of a settlement of Lubicon land rights as self-government
Dwight Gladue
Councilor
Lubicon Lake Indian Nation
fol-request at masses.tao.ca