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
June 3, 2005
Below please find a letter from Dr. David Suzuki to Canadian Minister of the Environment Stephane Dion. The internationally-renowned author, broadcaster and scientist is personally supporting the call for a full federal environmental assessment panel review of the Deep Well Oil and Gas' Sawn Lake heavy oil project on Lubicon Traditional Territory.
Dr. Suzuki aptly notes that it is "inexcusable that oil and gas exploitation in the area has been licensed to proceed at breakneck speed while negotiations to resolve the underlying title to the area inch along at a snail’s pace."
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May 30, 2005
The Hon. Stéphane Dion
Minister of the Environment
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Dear M. Dion;
I recently received a noted copy of a letter sent to you by Chief Bernard Ominayak of the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation.
I am writing to you personally to support Chief Ominayak’s request for a full federal environmental assessment panel review of the Deep Well Oil and Gas heavy oil extraction project planned in the Sawn Lake area in North-Central Alberta.
I have been to the Lubicon community and have met the people there. I know they have been diligently seeking a land rights settlement for many years and I find it inexcusable that oil and gas exploitation in the area has been licensed to proceed at breakneck speed while negotiations to resolve the underlying title to the area inch along at a snail’s pace.
The concern the Lubicon people have shown for their environment is shared by many Canadians. I, for one, share their concerns about the environmental, social and economic impacts of the Deep Well Oil and Gas heavy oil extraction project on the Lubicon community and its traditional lands. I also share Chief Ominayak’s view that this development should not proceed without first dealing with the unresolved jurisdictional issues regarding these lands and without an independent assessment of the environmental, social and economic impacts of this project, including its impacts on Canada’s Kyoto commitments.
I hope you will act quickly to address these concerns.
Sincerely,
ORIGINAL SIGNED BY
Dr. David Suzuki
cc: Prime Minister Paul Martin
The Hon. Andy Scott, Minister of Indian Affairs
Robert Mills, Environment Critic, Conservative Party of Canada
Bernard Bigras, Environment Critic, Bloc Quebecois
Nathan Cullen, Environment Critic, New Democratic Party
Pat Martin, Aboriginal Affairs Critic, New Democratic Party
Bernard Cleary, Aboriginal Affairs Critic, Bloc Quebecois
Jim Prentice, Aboriginal Affairs Critic, Conservative Party of Canada
Dr. David Swann, Environment Critic, Liberal Party of Alberta
Ray Martin, Alberta New Democratic Party
Elizabeth May, Sierra Club of Canada
Bruce Cox, Greenpeace Canada
fol-request at masses.tao.ca