| Friends of the Lubicon (Toronto) Address as of Dec 12, 2000: PO BOX 444 STN D, ETOBICOKE ON M9A 4X4 tel: (416) 763-7500 e-mail: fol (at) tao (dot) ca |
There have been no meetings between the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation and the Canadian federal government to resolve Lubicon land rights since November 1, 1999 and it's currently unknown when negotiations are to resume.
In July, 1999, some progress seemed to have been made. Substantial agreement had been reached on membership last spring, whereby the Lubicons have the right to define who is a Lubicon subject to their membership code. Other work had progressed on an environmental audit of proposed reserve lands and the federal government had made a serious proposal regarding construction of the Lubicon community. The Lubicons had responded with a counter-proposal which addressed their concerns with the federal proposal. A technical committee was struck to draft proposals on construction management in the hopes that agreement on community construction might be reached relatively quickly.
After July, however, progress slowed considerably.
Difficulties arose when the federal team insisted on inviting the province of Alberta to join the talks. The Lubicon position has always been that substantial progress needed to be made bilaterally before the province comes to the table.
Under considerable pressure from the federal negotiating team, the Lubicons eventually agreed to invite the province to make an initial presentation to the negotiating teams on November 2, 1999, after a meeting November 1 between the Lubicons and the federal negotiating team. The Lubicons agreed to invite the province on the condition that further bilateral progress would be made in the month prior to the November 1 meeting. However, upon returning to the table a month after the last bilateral session, the Lubicons found that the federal negotiating team had not done essential work agreed to at the previous session, they had not kept timetables agreed to at the previous session, and that negotiations had therefore not progressed in the month between negotiating sessions. The Lubicons said that the meeting with the province should be postponed while a joint federal-Lubicon technical committee met to identify issues which needed to be addressed at the main table in order to make some progress the following day. If progress could be made bilaterally on November 2, the Lubicons said, the province could be invited to attend negotiations on the 3rd.
Instead, the federal team left northern Alberta on November 2 without meeting. There have been no meetings since that time, although there has been an exchange of correspondence.
Negotiations will proceed if the Lubicon are assured that the federal government is indeed serious about resolving Lubicon land rights. There is a lot of work to be done. The Lubicon counter-proposal on community construction presented last June has not yet been responded to. Nor has there been agreement on other core issues: economic development, a trappers support program, dispute resolution, self-government and compensation. Issues which involve the province of Alberta have also not been agreed, including land for reserve purposes and environment and wildlife management.
It seems that as long as the Lubicons are engaged in negotiations, the federal government feels assured that the Lubicons will not cause political embarrassment for them. That's not much of an incentive for them to proceed quickly towards settlement. Lubicon supporters, therefore, need to remind the federal government that support for a settlement is strong and unproductive negotiations will be considered no more honourable than outright denial of Lubicon rights.
Please write the
Minister of Indian Affairs, Robert Nault, House of Commons Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6
& forward any response received to FoL.
Or write your MP as part of the Lubicon Lobby Campaign effort.
Lubicon supporters have been writing their MP asking him or her to express support to the Minister of Indian Affairs for a just negotiated settlement of Lubicon land rights. To date over one quarter of federal MPs received letters from Lubicon supporters. Of those MP’s more than half contacted the Minister.
To get involved in this coordinated grassroots effort,
1. Please request a lobby information package from
Nancy Graham, Coordinator,
Lubicon Lobby Campaign,
153 Laurier Ave E., Ottawa, ON K1N 6N8
Tel: 613-526-3871 Fax: 613-526-9093
Lobby Campaign E-mail
2. Send a letter to your MP with information received in your lobby package.
3. Contact your MP to make sure they’ve followed up on your request.
4. If you've already contacted your MP, contact he/she again to register your concern about the apparent lack of will on the part of the Canadian.Government to resolve Lubicon land rights.