Mailing address:
3536 - 106 Street
Edmonton, AB T6J 1A4
403-436-5652
FAX: 403-437-0719
May 23, 1991
Attached for your information is a copy of an excellent letter on
the continuing Lubicon tragedy sent to Canadian Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney by citizens of Manitoba.
Letters of this kind are the Lubicons' only remaining hope other
than trying to physically defend themselves and their families on
the ground.
* * * * *
May 16, 1991, Letter to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney from a
group of Manitobans
RE: The Struggle of the Lubicon People
It is intolerably offensive to us as Canadians that the RCMP and
the courts are being used as an instrument of the large forest
company Daishowa and its subsidiaries, and of the oil exploration
company Norcen Energy Resources in their attacks on traditional
Lubicon values.
We deplore the cynical attempt by your government to create
division among the aboriginal people of northern Alberta by fast
tracking an agreement in principle with the people at Cadotte
Lake, recently named the "Woodland Cree" band.
Industrial exploitation has stolen $5 billion worth of natural
resources from Lubicon land. $45 million of government-dictated
expenditures and 95 square miles out of the 4,000 square miles of
unceded Lubicon territory as the government's final offer is
entirely inadequate. The Lubicon desperately need a viable,
sustainable economic base to replace the self-sufficient way of
life they enjoyed before the invasion and ravaging of their
lands.
At the core of this problem are a lack of respect for life itself
and a contemptuous attitude of conquest. For fifty years the
Lubicon have worked to settle their claim, presenting their
history and needs to an uncaring and distant administration.
Your government's response is to hold belligerently to its
invasionist frame of reference, refusing to understand that there
is another way, a way of looking at life as a gift to be
cherished, not as something to be exploited. True negotiation
cannot take place as long as the government demands that the
Lubicon begin from the government's perspective.
It is the responsibility of the Canadian government to negotiate,
earnestly and in good faith, to compensate the Lubicon for lost
resources revenue. Protection of ancestral lands and the
acceptance of Lubicon jurisdiction over these lands must be
PROMOTED by the Federal government, not undermined by official
policy.
The actions and attitudes of the federal government and its
representatives in this regard are an international shame. This
is the sort of brinkmanship that led to the tragic confrontations
at Kahnesatake and Kahnawake last summer.
We insist that you act to remedy this situation immediately.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Dr. C. Simmonds, L. Shapiro, J. Sylvester, John Sylvester, Neil
Conner, Laura Conner, W. Symonds, Verna McKay, Glenda Armstrong
cc: Chief Bernard Ominayak
National Chief George Erasmas
Phil Fontaine
Hon. Tom Siddon
Jean Chretien
Audrey McLaughlin
Ethel Blondin
Robert Skelly