Mailing address:
3536 - 106 Street
Edmonton, AB T6J 1A4
403-436-5652
FAX: 403-437-0719
December 7, 1989
Negotiations between the Government of Canada and the Lubicon Lake people
collapsed on January 24, 1989, after representatives of the Canadian
Government tabled a surprise "take-it-or-leave-it" settlement offer which they
knew in advance wasn't acceptable, since it made no provision for the Lubicon
people to replace the shattered traditional Lubicon economy and way of life
with a hopefully viable new economy and way of life. Representatives of the
Canadian Government then immediately made clear by their actions that they'd
never been serious about negotiations in the first place, but had only used
the pretense of serious negotiations to set the stage for an all-out Canadian
Government effort designed to undermine duly elected Lubicon leadership and
discredit the Lubicon cause.
One particularly nasty element of the current Canadian Government campaign to
deny the Lubicon people their legitimate aboriginal land rights involved
actually sending agents into northern Alberta to try and organize the
political overthrow of duly elected Lubicon leadership. The effort to
politically overthrow the duly elected Lubicon leadership failed on May 31st
when current Lubicon leadership was unanimously re-elected, but on-the-ground
efforts by the Canadian Government to subvert Lubicon land rights have
continued and soon reappeared in the form of the so-called new Woodland Cree
Band.
Lubicon Chief Ominayak and Alberta Premier Getty met on July 23rd to discuss
the problem created by Federal Government unwillingness to engage in good
faith negotiation of Lubicon land rights. The Chief and the Premier of course
both represent interests in northern Alberta which ultimately can only be
protected through successful negotiation of Lubicon land rights; however,
under the Canadian Constitution, only the Federal Government is legally
empowered to negotiate a settlement of aboriginal land rights.
On July 24th the Chief and the Premier decided to continue the negotiations
which Federal negotiators had prematurely terminated the previous January with
their surprise "take-it-or-leave-it" offer, inviting the Federal Government to
join the negotiations between the Lubicons and the Provincial Government, but
also agreeing to proceed with or without Federal Government involvement.
While such negotiations of course couldn't bind the Federal Government,
agreement between the Provincial Government and the Lubicon people on all
outstanding issues, including issues for which the Federal Government carries
primary if not exclusive responsibility, would clearly place the onus for lack
of settlement on the Federal Government.
In a very real sense the Chief and the Premier were proposing to proceed with
a more comprehensive version of their Grimshaw negotiations, during which they
developed a framework for settlement of the key reserve land issue by agreeing
basically that the Provincial Government would transfer 95 square miles of
reserve land from Provincial to Federal jurisdiction for purposes of a Lubicon
reserve, that the Lubicon people would accept a reserve of 95 square miles,
and that the Federal Government would buy out third party interests in the 95
square miles -- primarily oil companies. The Chief and the Premier were now
in effect proposing to approach all remaining settlement issues in the same
way.
Grimshaw infuriated representatives of the Federal Government, not only
because the Premier and the Chief had taken the initiative away from the
Federal Government in an area of supposedly exclusive Federal Government
responsibility under the Canadian Constitution, but also because the Chief and
the Premier had taken away from Federal officials the ability to blame others
for lack of a settlement. Grimshaw particularly incensed Federal Lubicon
negotiator Brian Malone, who'd earlier been arguing that the Federal
Government had no choice but to go to court since supposedly neither the
Province nor the Lubicons were willing to negotiate, and who's been whining
and complaining ever since that the Province and the Lubicons solved the key
reserve land issue by sending the Federal Government the bill.
The day after the Chief and the Premier announced agreement to proceed with
what amounted to a more comprehensive version of the Grimshaw negotiations,
representatives of the Federal Government announced creation of a so-called
new Band with a competing claim to traditional Lubicon lands. The so-called
new Band was called the Woodland Cree Band. The leaders of this so-called new
Woodland Cree Band are the same individuals whom agents of the Canadian
Government had earlier organized in their unsuccessful efforts to politically
overthrow duly elected Lubicon leaders.
While creation of the so-called new Woodland Cree Band had undoubtedly been in
the works for some time, announcement of its creation the day after the Chief
and the Premier agreed to proceed with negotiations was clearly an effort on
the part of the Canadian Government to counter proposed negotiations between
the Province and the Lubicons. Unable to overthrow Lubicon leadership in a
duly called free election, Federal officials were in effect challenging the
basis of the Grimshaw Agreement, which is of course the basis for the proposed
new round of negotiations between the Province and the Lubicons, with a newly
created Band also claiming rights to the traditional Lubicon area.
Asked by both the Province and the Lubicons to provide a list of the members
of the so-called new Woodland Cree Band so that this latest Federal Government
manoeuvre could be properly assessed, representatives of the Federal
Government refused, taking the position that the Woodland Cree membership list
was confidential. Unwilling to be deflected by the Federal Government's
nameless, faceless challenge to the Grimshaw Agreement, Lubicon and Provincial
negotiators proceeded to organize negotiations as agreed by the Chief and the
Premier on July 24th.
On July 27th Provincial Lubicon negotiator John McCarthy wrote Federal Lubicon
negotiator Brian Malone inviting Federal Government participation in
negotiations. Mr. McCarthy proposed to commence negotiations "sometime after
the middle of August", and asked Mr. Malone for "a schedule of convenient
dates...after the 15th of August".
Mr. Malone responded to the July 27th McCarthy letter on August 11th,
inaccurately characterizing the invitation to join pre-agreed negotiations
between the Province and the Lubicons as "relaying the Lubicon Lake Band's
request for the resumption of tripartite talks", inaccurately "recalling" that
the Lubicon negotiators "unilaterally broke off settlement talks" by rejecting
the Federal Government's final "take-it-or-leave-it" settlement offer of
January 24th, inaccurately describing the Federal Government's final "take-it-
or-leave-it" settlement offer as "open", and inaccurately "assuming therefore
that the Band now wishes to present a meaningful counter-proposal within the
bounds of Canadian law".
"As for suitable dates", Mr. Malone wrote that he could "alter other
obligations so as to be available on any of the following: September 7-8,
September 11-15, September 18-20, September 25-28".
Regarding the purpose of the talks which he'd earlier inaccurately "assumed"
were being convened so that the Lubicon people could "present a meaningful
counter-proposal within the bounds of Canadian law", and making clear that the
Federal Government was not agreeing to resume negotiations but only to listen
to a supposed Lubicon counter-proposal, Mr. Malone wrote "Two consecutive days
of discussions should indicate whether the Band's counter-proposals form the
basis for meaningful discussions".
Mr. McCarthy received Mr. Malone's August 11th letter on August 14th and
immediately faxed a copy to Lubicon negotiator Fred Lennarson for reaction.
Mr. Lennarson replied the following day, pointing out factual
misrepresentations contained in the Malone letter, suggesting that Mr.
Malone's earliest "suitable" starting date was intended to give Federal
officials time necessary to formally constitute the recently announced
Woodland Cree Band which Federal officials clearly hoped would enable them to
effectively torpedo the Grimshaw Agreement, and rejecting the proposition that
the Lubicons and the Province should simply wait and react to Federal
Government actions. Rather Mr. Lennarson said that the Lubicons proposed to
commence negotiations in mid-August with or without Federal Government
involvement -- as earlier agreed by the Chief and the Premier.
Regarding Mr. Malone's self-serving attempt to characterize proposed
negotiations between the Lubicons and the Province as a Lubicon "request for
the resumption of tripartite talks", and the purpose of the proposed
negotiations as an opportunity for the Lubicons to "present a meaningful
counter-proposal within the bounds of Canadian law", Mr. Lennarson instead
proposed, consistent with the agreement between the Chief and the Premier, to
use the time between August 15th and September 7th to negotiate a joint
Lubicon/ Provincial counter-proposal to the Federal Government's final "take-
it-or-leave-it" settlement offer.
Regarding the agenda for proposed negotiations, Mr. Lennarson suggested that
the agenda be categorized into items pertaining directly to settlement, and
items possibly impacting upon negotiation of a settlement. Items possibly
impacting upon negotiation of a settlement package, Mr. Lennarson said, would
include recent Federal Government creation of the so-called new Woodland Cree
Band, recent signing of the Daishowa Forest Management Agreement by the
Alberta Government, and involvement of Ken Colby in negotiations. If the
Federal Government included Mr. Colby on their negotiating team, Mr. Lennarson
said, the Lubicon people intended to open-up negotiations to members of the
legitimate media.
Mr. McCarthy indicated that Federal officials anticipated Lubicon opposition
to Mr. Colby and had therefore now made Mr. Colby an "assistant negotiator',
instead of simply a "media spokesman". Mr. McCarthy said that Federal
officials had also asked him to take a position on selection of negotiators,
and that he'd taken the position that each party should pick its own
negotiating team. He cautioned against giving Federal officials an excuse to
walk out.
Mr. Lennarson told Mr. McCarthy that the Lubicon people agreed with the
principle that each party should select its own negotiating team. However, he
said, the Lubicon people didn't intend to again agree to barring the
legitimate media while the Federal Government involved their own private,
bought-and-paid-for media man specifically to work on a self-serving media
campaign. If the Federal Government included Mr. Colby on its negotiating
team, Mr. Lennarson repeated, the Lubicon people intended to open-up
negotiations to members of the legitimate media. As for Federal officials
walking out, Mr. Lennarson pointed out that the Chief and the Premier had
agreed to proceed with negotiations whether Federal officials participated or
not.
Mr. McCarthy responded to Mr. Lennarson's August 15th letter on August 17th,
proposing August 23th as the starting date for proposed negotiations between
the Lubicons and the Province. Mr. Lennarson confirmed the August 23rd
starting date by phone later that same day.
On August 18th Mr. Malone wrote Mr. McCarthy a letter regarding Mr.
Lennarson's August 15th letter, which Mr. McCarthy had by pre-agreement with
Mr. Lennarson provided to Mr. Malone. Mr. Malone was clearly distressed at
the prospect of "a joint counter-proposal supported by both the Band and
Alberta ready for discussion with the Federal Government at the tripartite
meetings". Mr. Malone wrote "Our review of the press clippings after the
meeting (between the Premier and the Chief) suggests that the Premier only
agreed to invite Federal participation at such meetings with no intention of a
joint proposal". Mr. Malone wrote "The joint proposal concept is a new
feature and I will require your immediate advice as to the Province's
position".
Regarding the decision to proceed with negotiations on August 23rd with or
without Federal Government involvement, Mr. Malone wrote "I propose to send
(Federal Government bureaucrat) Bob Coulter as an observer if you agree".
Mr. McCarthy received Mr Malone's August 18th letter on August 21st and phoned
Mr. Lennarson. He said that he considered Mr. Lennarson's use of "the phrase
joint counter proposal to be a matter of nuance rather than substance and
therefore wouldn't be responding". However, Mr. McCarthy said, he would need
a reaction from the Lubicon people regarding Mr. Malone's proposal to involve
Mr. Coulter "as an observer".
Mr. Lennarson checked with Chief Ominayak later that same day and advised Mr.
McCarthy that the Federal Government was of course welcome to send whomever
they pleased to the negotiations, but that anyone attending the negotiations
on behalf of the Federal Government would also be expected to respond on
behalf of the Federal Government. Mr. McCarthy indicated that he'd advise Mr.
Malone of the Lubicon position on involvement of Mr. Coulter.
Early in the meeting on August 23rd Mr. McCarthy described Mr. Coulter as an
"observer". Mr. Lennarson told Mr. McCarthy that the Lubicon people hadn't
and didn't agree to observer status for Mr. Coulter. After some discussion it
was agreed that Mr. Coulter represented the Federal Government and would be
expected to "provide available information and seek instruction regarding
Canadian Government positions on the issues".
After resolving the question of Mr. Coulter's status in the meeting, Mr.
McCarthy said "It appears a new Band has been created". He said that he'd
received a phone call from Calgary lawyer Bob Young the week before
"requesting a meeting with the (Provincial Attorney General) to inform the AG
about creation of the new Band". He said that Mr. Young had provided him with
"no details" regarding the so-called new Band, and that he'd not yet received
instructions from the AG on how to respond to Young's request.
Mr. Lennarson asked Mr. Coulter for a list of supposed members of the new
Band.
Mr. McCarthy indicated that the Province would like a copy as well.
Mr. Coulter pointedly ignored Mr. Lennarson and addressed his remarks to Mr.
McCarthy. He told Mr. McCarthy that he couldn't provide a list but could say
that "everybody on the initial (Woodland Cree membership) list will be a
registered Indian under the Indian Act AS OF THE CREATION OF THE NEW BAND
(capitalization added)". He said that creation of the new Band was "targeted
for August 28th". If Mr. McCarthy wanted a copy of the Woodland Cree
membership list, he said, "write Malone".
Mr. McCarthy said that he'd write Mr. Malone requesting a copy of the Woodland
Cree membership list.
Lubicon lawyer Jim O'Reilly asked Mr. Coulter under what authority the so-
called new Woodland Cree Band was being created.
Mr. Coulter said "the new Band is being created by Ministerial Order under
Section 17 of the Indian Act". He said that "Section 17 gives the Minister
authority to create a new Band from an existing Band, or from the Indian
Register, if requested to do so by persons proposing to form the new Band".
Mr. Lennarson asked Mr. Coulter if Section 17 gave the Minister authority to
organize and solicit such a request from dissident members of an organized
aboriginal society, or from people added to the membership list of an
organized aboriginal society by the Federal Government, for the specific
purpose of subverting duly elected aboriginal leadership.
Mr. Coulter denied that Federal officials had anything to do with organizing
or soliciting the request to form the so-called new Band.
Mr. Lennarson reminded Mr. Coulter that the original petition requesting
formation of the so-called new Band followed rather than preceded meetings
with Federal officials, and that the petition was an obvious sham, with 87 out
of 152 supposed signatures signed by one person.
Mr. Coulter said "Federal officials never took that petition seriously".
Mr. Lennarson reminded Mr. Coulter of numerous public statements to the
contrary by official Federal Government spokesman Ken Colby. He asked Mr.
Coulter if Mr. Coulter was now admitting that Mr. Colby is a liar.
Mr. Coulter said "I repeat, Federal officials never took that petition
seriously".
Mr. O'Reilly asked Mr. Coulter if a new Band created under Section 17 of the
Indian Act was entitled to reserve lands.
Mr. Coulter said "the new Band hasn't requested reserve lands but has been
told that recognition as a Band doesn't necessarily involve reserve lands".
Mr. Lennarson commented on how unusual it was for the Federal Government to
respond to a request not even made, noting the usual Federal Government
pattern was not responding to requests which had been made.
Mr. McCarthy told Mr. Coulter that Woodland lawyer Young had advised the
Province that "the new Band wants about 100 square miles of reserve land in
the area of Cadotte Lake".
Mr. Coulter repeated that the new Woodland Cree Band had not asked the Federal
Government for reserve lands.
Mr. Lennarson asked if Mr. Coulter could at least indicate the number of
supposed Lubicons on the new Band list.
Mr. Coulter said that "the Federal Government has 339 individual declarations
from people asking to be transferred to the new Band". He said "100 of the
339 are registered Indians". He said "This 100 will form the initial
membership list of the new Band". He said "More than half of the registered
Indians -- between 50 and 70 -- are registered Lubicons". He said "More than
that are on the Lubicon membership list".
Mr. Lennarson asked if the 339 so-called "declarations" were actually sworn
and signed by individuals.
Mr. Coulter said that all of the 339 declarations were signed by individuals
but not sworn.
Mr. Lennarson asked Mr. Coulter for a list of registered Lubicons supposedly
on the initial membership list of the so-called new Band.
Mr. Coulter said that he would "try to get a copy of the Ministerial Order
listing members of registered Bands asking to join the new Band". He repeated
that "There are 100 registered Indians on this list". He said "The other 239
have applied to be added to the new Band BUT MAY OR MAY NOT BE INDIANS
(capitalization added)".
Mr. McCarthy asked Mr. Coulter about the effect of creating the Band on
proposed Lubicon reserve lands.
Mr. Coulter said "It's the position of Canada that creation of the new Band
has no effect on Lubicon reserve lands".
Mr. O'Reilly asked Mr. Coulter about the effect of creating the new Band on
the Grimshaw Agreement, which is of course the basis of the agreement on
Lubicon reserve lands.
Mr. Coulter said "Any effect the new Band has on the Grimshaw Agreement is
between the Lubicons and Alberta".
Mr. Lennarson asked Mr. Coulter about the effect of creating the new Band on
the Federal Government's final "take-it-or-leave-it" settlement offer.
Mr. Coulter denied that the Federal Government had ever described the January
offer as a final "take-it-or-leave-it" offer.
Mr. Lennarson told Mr. Coulter that the Federal Government's so-called "offer"
had been repeatedly described as "take-it-or-leave-it" when it was tabled last
January 24th. Since January 24th, he said, Federal officials had repeatedly
taken the public position that the so-called offer wouldn't be changed. He
asked again about the effect of creating the new Band on the Federal
Government's so-called final "take-it-or-leave-it" settlement offer.
Mr. Coulter said "Any effect on the offer made in January will have to be
discussed in September".
Mr. Lennarson asked Mr. Coulter when Mr. Coulter would be able to provide the
membership list of the so-called new Woodland Cree Band, the list of Lubicon
people supposedly on the Woodland Cree membership list, and the list of
Lubicon people who've supposedly applied for membership in the so-called new
Woodland Cree Band.
Mr. Coulter said that he'd ask for a copy of the list that night "and get
instructions".
Mr. McCarthy said that Lubicon representatives had indicated that they would
insist the September 7th and 8th sessions be open to the media if Mr. Colby
attended on behalf of the Federal Government. He asked Lubicon
representatives to speak to the point and for Federal Government reaction from
Mr. Coulter.
Mr. Lennarson said that the Lubicon position was simple -- either no media or
all media. He said that the Lubicon people didn't intend to again find
themselves in the position of agreeing to bar the legitimate media, while the
Federal Government's own private, bought-and-paid-for media man sat in
negotiations preparing a propaganda campaign on behalf of the Federal
Government.
Mr. Coulter said that he would need to seek instruction regarding Federal
Government reaction to the Lubicon position on involvement of the media in
scheduled September 7th and 8th negotiating sessions.
During the meeting on August 24th Mr. McCarthy asked Mr. Coulter if Mr.
Coulter had received any instructions on provision of the Woodland Cree Band
lists.
Mr. Coulter said "I think that our initial, ordinary position is that this
request should be made to the new Band".
Mr. Lennarson said "We're making this request to the Federal Government as the
conceiver, contriver, conniver, organizer, agent and spokesman for the so-
called new Woodland Cree Band".
Mr. Coulter said "We'll provide a list of registered Lubicons on the initial
Woodland Cree Band list". He said "We'll also provide a list of people
registered to other Bands but on the Lubicon membership list".
Mr. Lennarson asked when the promised lists would be made available.
Mr. Coulter said that the promised lists would be made available "after
creation of the Woodland Cree Band next week".
Mr. Lennarson asked about the names of people on the Lubicon membership list
who aren't registered but have supposedly applied for membership in the so-
called new Woodland Cree Band.
Mr. Coulter said "You'll have to get the other names from (Woodland Cree
lawyer) Young". He said "If Young has clients with a claim he should be
prepared to give you a list of their names".
Mr. Coulter then asked Mr. McCarthy "What is the Province's position on
opening the September 7th session to the media"?
Mr. McCarthy said that he thought negotiating sessions would be more
productive without the media, but that the Province was "prepared to proceed
either way".
Mr. Coulter said "The media blackout won't be observed (by the Lubicons) in
any case, but the Federal Government is hesitant to proceed with the media
present". He said "If the Province wants the media present, Mr. McCarthy
should write Mr. Malone".
Mr. McCarthy asked again about the Lubicon position on involvement of the
media.
Mr. Lennarson repeated that the Lubicon people were prepared to proceed with
or without the media present, but not with the Lubicons agreeing to bar the
legitimate media while Federal officials involved their own private, bought-
and-paid-for media man.
Mr. Coulter said "We don't try to tell the Lubicons who to involve and reserve
the right to involve who we please".
Mr. Lennarson said "If Federal officials choose to involve their own private,
bought-and-paid for representative of media, the Lubicon people will choose to
involve the rest of the media".
Mr. McCarthy asked Mr. Coulter to again communicate the Lubicon position to
Mr. Malone.
The discussion then proceeded to other items, including on-reserve capital
infrastructure. Clearly a matter of Federal Government responsibility,
proposed capital projects had been discussed at length and in detail with
Federal representatives the previous December. However, in the context of the
current talks, a list of on-reserve capital projects was now also provided to
representatives of the Provincial Government for discussion.
Mr. Coulter asked for a copy of the list of proposed on-reserve capital
projects. He was told by Lubicon representatives that the Federal Government
already had capital project and cost information -- that the information
hadn't changed from last December.
Mr. Coulter repeated his request for a copy of proposed capital projects,
saying that he didn't bring his copy of the projects discussed last December.
Mr. Lennarson told Mr. Coulter to have Mr. Malone write requesting a copy.
Having largely achieved agreement between Provincial and Lubicon
representatives on how to proceed with the remaining issues, Mr. McCarthy
opened the August 25th session by proposing to "build an agenda" for
discussion with Federal officials on September 7th. He was interrupted by an
obviously agitated and atypically aggressive Mr. Coulter.
Mr. Coulter said "Regarding letters requesting information, if the Band wants
a copy of the Woodland Cree Band list, they should write Malone".
Mr. Lennarson asked Mr. McCarthy if Lubicon representatives could have a copy
of the list which the Federal Government had promised to provide the
Provincial Government. Mr. McCarthy agreed to share any list received from
the Federal Government. (The list was later provided to the Provincial
Government on the condition that it would not be shared with the Lubicon
people.)
Mr. Coulter asked for "a counter-proposal from the Band to the Federal
Government's January 24th settlement offer". He also asked for "a list of
people represented by the Band".
Mr. Lennarson told Mr. Coulter that the Lubicon people considered the Federal
Government's so-called final "take-it-or-leave-it" offer a political
manoeuvre, not a serious offer. He said that the Lubicon people weren't
prepared to dignify such a transparent political manoeuvre with a counter-
proposal. If the Federal Government was really serious about negotiating a
settlement of Lubicon land rights, he said, Federal officials should return to
the negotiating table and complete negotiation of outstanding issues, rather
than continuing to jockey for political position.
As for the requested list of people represented by duly elected Lubicon
leadership, Mr. Lennarson said, the Federal Government already had such a
list. If the Federal Government had reason to believe that anyone on the
Lubicon list wasn't represented by duly elected Lubicon leadership, he said,
Federal officials should provide information to that effect -- presumably the
names of Lubicon people who'd indicated that they wanted to transfer to the
membership list of the so-called new Woodland Cree Band.
Mr. Coulter then asked for Lubicon representatives "to at least spell out what
it will take to settle".
Mr. Lennarson repeated that the Lubicon people had spelled out many times what
it would take to settle.
Mr. Coulter asked that the Lubicon people "spell out for the September 7th
meeting what it will take to settle."
Mr. Lennarson said that the Lubicon people would be prepared to once again
spell out what it will take to settle for the September 7th meeting.
Mr. McCarthy concluded the meeting by asking Mr. Coulter and Mr. Lennarson for
letters spelling out in writing their respective positions on involvement of
the media. Mr. Lennarson did so that same day. Mr. Malone waited until after
he'd received a copy of Mr. Lennarson's letter, and then in effect responded
to Mr. Lennarson's letter.
Mr. Malone said "Our response (to the Lubicon position on involvement of the
media) is that all parties must be free to choose their own representatives".
He said "Canada will not participate in negotiations at which the media is
present". "As an alternative" he proposed that Mr. McCarthy "engage a court
reporter to record proceedings...should the accuracy of subsequent comments to
the media become a matter of later controversy". "As an aside", Mr. Malone
said,...given past experience there is no useful purpose to be served by a
media blackout during any negotiations involving the Lubicon Lake Band".
Mr. McCarthy was out of the office on September 1st but arranged to have his
secretary send Mr. Lennarson a copy of Mr. Malone's September 1st letter. Mr.
Lennarson received the copy of Mr. Malone's September 1st letter a couple of
days later and responded immediately.
Mr. Lennarson said the Lubicon people agreed with Mr. Malone that "no useful
purpose (is) to be served by a media blackout" during negotiations between the
Lubicon people and the Canadian Government. Mr. Lennarson said "No useful
purpose (is) to be served, because, as Lubicon representatives made clear to
Coulter at the meeting on August 23rd, the Lubicon people won't ever again
allow a demonstrably duplicitous Canadian Government to hide its Machiavellian
machinations behind a media blackout".
Mr. Lennarson said the Lubicon people also agreed with Mr. Malone that "all
parties must be free to choose their own representatives". However, Mr.
Lennarson said, "the Lubicon people intend to appropriately balance the
'representatives' selected by the Canadian Government". "If the Canadian
Government again chooses to include a man on its negotiating team whose only
purpose is to conduct a highly misleading and self-serving media campaign, the
Lubicon people will respond by inviting representatives of the legitimate
media to attend the negotiations and report what really transpires".
As for Mr. Malone's proposal "that the hiring of a court reporter to
transcribe the proceedings would be a more appropriate response to the
Canadian Government involving a professional propagandist on its negotiating
team", Mr. Lennarson said, "Surely he's not serious". "While the Lubicon
people would welcome the involvement of a court reporter to transcribe the
proceedings", Mr. Lennarson said, "any dope knows that such a transcript is
hardly an effective response to the kind of on-going propaganda campaign being
conducted by the Canadian Government's bought-and-paid-for media man".
In conclusion Mr. Lennarson said:
"If representatives of the Canadian Government really don't want the
media involved in negotiations, instead of only seeking political
advantage by having their own bought-and-paid-for media man in
negotiations while representatives of the legitimate media are kept
outside, they can leave Mr. Colby outside. Alternatively, if
representatives of the Canadian Government refuse to meet unless Mr.
Colby is present and members or the legitimate media are barred, the
Lubicon people will simply conclude that the Canadian Government still
isn't serious about achieving a negotiated settlement and will proceed
accordingly."
On September 6th Mr. McCarthy phoned Mr. Lennarson to discuss a phone
conversation he had with Mr. Malone. He said Mr. Malone told him that "the
Feds will not participate if the media is there". He asked Mr. Lennarson if
Mr. Lennarson thought the Feds would stick to their stated position on
involvement of the media, and also if the Lubicon position on involvement of
the media was firm.
Mr. Lennarson told Mr. McCarthy that the Feds had involved Mr. Colby in
negotiations over Lubicon objections twice before and undoubtedly thought that
they could get away with it again. However, he said, he doubted that the
Lubicon people would be prepared to cede the Colby issue again, especially
since Mr. Colby had preformed exactly as predicted when allowed to sit in on
negotiations.
Mr. McCarthy asked if the Lubicon people would object to the Province meeting
privately with the Feds. He said that he "sensed some movement" and wanted to
see if he was right.
After checking with Chief Ominayak, Mr. Lennarson advised Mr. McCarthy that
the Lubicon people had no objection to the Province meeting privately with the
Feds.
Representatives of the Federal and Provincial Governments met in Edmonton at
an undisclosed site the morning of September 7th, after Federal Government
spokesmen falsely told reporters that the Federal negotiating team's plane had
been delayed and that Federal negotiators therefore wouldn't be arriving in
Edmonton until later that afternoon. Following the meeting between the
Federal and Provincial negotiating teams, Mr. McCarthy told the Lubicon
negotiating team that Mr. Malone wanted a written statement from the Lubicon
people on "what it will take to settle".
A statement reiterating the Lubicon position on outstanding settlement issues,
and predicting that Federal officials only wanted the Lubicon statement in
order to release an already prepared response, was delivered to Mr. McCarthy
the next morning. Mr. McCarthy delivered the Lubicon statement to Mr. Malone.
Within a couple of hours of receiving the Lubicon position paper Mr. Malone
responded as predicted, with a revised Federal offer which had obviously been
drafted prior to receipt of the Lubicon statement. Release of the revised
Federal Government offer was then followed immediately by a press conference
called by Ken Colby.
As expected the Federal Government's revised "offer" provided nothing new. It
dismissed the statement reiterating the Lubicon position on outstanding
settlement issues as "merely" a reiteration of the Lubicon position
"containing no specifics which would advance negotiations". It put forth the
newly created Woodland Cree Band as having equally valid rights to the
traditional Lubicon area. It indicated that the membership of the Woodland
and Lubicon Lake Bands will have to be "validated" by both levels of Canadian
Government before any "meaningful future discussions" can take place. It
asked whether the Provincial Government was prepared to transfer more land to
provide a reserve for the newly created Woodland Cree Band or was going reduce
the amount of reserve land committed to the Lubicon people at Grimshaw. It
made clear that the Federal Government's January offer would be adjusted
downward to take into account a supposedly reduced number of Lubicons
resulting from transfers into the newly created Woodland Cree Band. It
proposed to amend that section of the January offer requiring a full and final
release of all legal rights, which was so obviously in conflict with Federal
Government descriptions of that offer. And it proposed to replace the easily
criticized "Socio-Economic Program" included in the earlier offer, which
contained a number of obviously inadequate items totalling over ten million
dollars, with an equally inadequate -- but not so stupidly worded --blanket
offer of the interest on a ten million dollar fund. (See the January 28,
1989, analysis of the January 24th offer for details on the so-called "Socio-
Economic Program" contained in the earlier offer.)
Having thus responded to the temporarily worrisome challenge posed by
Lubicon/Provincial efforts to re-start negotiations, Federal negotiators
headed for home.
With no hope of a negotiated settlement in sight, the Lubicon people once
again started gearing-up to protect their vital interests on the ground.
==============================================================================
Retyped for your information is a resolution regarding creation of the
so-called new Woodland Cree Band. This resolution was recently passed
by the Assembly of First Nations, the representative body of Treaty
Indians in Canada.
* * * * *
National Indian Brotherhood
ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS
Head Office: Territory of Akwesasne
Hamilton's Island
Summerstown, Ontario
K0C 2E0
Tel: (613) 931-1012
Ottawa Office: 47 Clarence Street, Suite 300
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 9K1
Tel: (613) 236-0673
TELEX 053-3202
CONFEDERACY OF NATIONS RESOLUTION NO. 17/89
PROPOSED BY: Bill Erasmus, Northwest Territories
SECONDED BY: Steve Fobister, Ontario
CONCENSUS
Certified copy of a Resolution adopted on October 19, 1989 in
Yellowknife, N.W.T.
(Signed)
Georges Erasmus
National Chief
Subject: Lubicon Lake Nation
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
WHEREAS the Lubicon Lake Nation has the inherent right to determine its
own membership; and
WHEREAS the assertion and recognition of aboriginal and treaty rights
are integral to the First nations pursuit of self-determination, an
objective supported by international law and covenants; and
WHEREAS the aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations are
recognized and protected under Section 35 of the Constitution Act,
1982, which is the supreme law for Canadians and their governments; and
WHEREAS the Government of Canada has a fiduciary, moral and legal
obligation to protect the peoples of the First Nations; and
WHEREAS the Government of Canada through its Minister of Indian Affairs
has sought to undermine the integrity of the Lubicon Lake Nation by
unilaterally entering and removing the names of persons onto its Band
list in violation of Lubicon membership laws; and
WHEREAS the Government of Canada, through its Minister of Indian
Affairs, has sought to undermine the leadership of the Lubicon Lake
Nation by falsely representing those artificial Band members as being
dissident citizens of the Lubicon Lake Nation; and
WHEREAS these actions constitute a reprehensible and offensive
intyerference into matters which are within the rightful jurisdiction
of the Lubicon Lake Nation; and
WHEREAS by these actions the Government of Canada has, through its
Minister of Indian Affairs, shown complete lack of regard for the pre-
existing needs and concerns of other First Nations across Canada by
ignoring their long-standing requests for Indian band status and
instead promoting the creation of the Woodland Cree Band in furtherance
of a strategy aimed at destroying the rights and existence of the
Lubicon Lake Nation; and
WHEREAS the Government of Canada, through its Minister of Indian
Affairs, has by these actions exhibited a blatant disregard for its
fiduciary responsibilities, laws, stated policies and for the precepts
of moral fairness in its dealings with the Lubicon Lake Nation,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Confederacy of Nations issue as
soon as possible a statement condemning the actions of the Government
of Canada; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Confederacy of Nations direct the
National Chief to bring pressure to bear upon the Prime Minister of
Canada to review the actions of his Minister of Indian Affairs in light
of his fiduciary duty, legal authority and federal policies in
relations to Indian self-government and to make public a report on the
findings of that review; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Confederacy of Nations hereby direct
the AFN Secretariat to give a high priority to activities in support of
the Lubicon Lake Nation and in furtherance of the intent and purpose of
this resolution; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT all First Nations and their regional
associations are also requested to adopt measures in support of the
Lubicon Lake Nation, and the inherent right of all First Nations to
self-government and self-determination.
October 19, 1989
Yellowknife, N.W.T.
=======================================================================
INDIAN PROBLEM BASED ON LAND
by Richard Wagamese, Columnist,
CALGARY HERALD, Sun., Oct 29,1989
There's good news and there's bad news.
The bad news is that the government to the east still believes
in the merits of the divide and conquer methods in its dealings
with the Indians. The good news is that its practically
impossible in this modern age to sneak it by without attracting
any publicity.
Back in the good old days the government could shuffle the
Indians off to the reservations, claiming they were allowing
them at least some of their land back. What they were really
doing was isolating each group of Indians from the others.
Without benefit of communication it was impossible for the
Indians to unite and organize any kind of political front or to
see that vast problems existed in the system.
Divide and conquer. In order to see the implications of this
ploy it is first necessary to know that the so called "Indian
Problem" in this country is based on the issue of land. The
government would have us believe that the Indian problem is
primarily a cultural one. Not so.
It's always been the land. Initially the Europeans wanted the
land for settlement. As modern technology and modern society
evolved the land became important for the resources it held.
>From furs to fission the land held the future. As long as the
Indians held land there was an Indian problem.
There's an Indian problem right in our own backyard.
Just over a year ago Premier Don Getty and Lubicon Indian Chief
Bernard Ominayak signed the Grimshaw Agreement. It was evidence
that the province and the Lubicons wanted to settle the
Lubicons' 50-year-old Land Claim. All that was needed was the
cooperation of the federal government. It's been over a year
and all signs indicate a long wait.
Rather than work with the province and the Indians the
government has decided to haul out the old method of divide and
conquer.
In August of this year they officially recognized the existence
of a group of Indians now known as the Woodland Cree Band.
Previous to August the Woodland Cree did not exist. The fact
that they do exist these days is due to some frightening
specifications contained in the Indian Act.
Section 17 of that legislation gives the minister responsible
the absolute power to create new Indian bands whenever he so
desires. All that is needed is the request of an unspecified
number of persons to form a new band. Theoretically, a dozen
people could make such a request and become officially
recognized as an Indian band. They simply need to be members of
an existing band or be listed with the Indian registrar.
Section 17.2 of the Indian Act allows the minister the absolute
power to take money and land away from existing bands in order
to accommodate the newly created one.
Enter the Woodland Cree.
This anonymous gathering of Indians number 100 registered
Indians. The government would have us believe that they are all
disgruntled members of Chief Ominayak's band. Not so. They
belong on the band lists of six separate, northern Alberta
bands. Only 37 are registered Lubicons.
Some time ago the government made a big show of its concern for
the Indians by its support of Bill C-31. This bill made it
possible for Indians who had either lost or never had status to
regain it. Nowadays, and in light of the Lubicon situation,
it's beginning to look as though the entire Bill C-31 move was
a means to an end.
Some 250 C-31 Indians will become members of the Woodland Cree
Band. The government is hurriedly processing their
applications. Following the dictates of the Indian Act these
C-31 returnees are being registered within existing bands to be
later transferred to the Woodland Cree.
This is interesting because there are some 70 aboriginal groups
in this country that have been waiting over 50 years for
official recognition as a band. It is more than curious that
the Woodland Cree should be officially recognized in less than
two months.
With recognition comes negotiation. The Woodland Cree are
claiming rights to the traditional Lubicon area. If the
minister sees fit he could appropriate land from the Lubicon
claim and hand it over to the Woodland Cree along with whatever
amounts of money he deems fit as well.
The Lubicon could be left out in the cold.
The most frightening aspect of this whole fiasco is that
section 17.3 of the Indian Act dictates that no protest may be
made. Absolute power. The minister is free to create whatever
bands he chooses, take whatever lands he chooses from
established bands and communities and remove whatever amounts
of funding from existing bands as well.
There's more to this story than this space will allow but rest
assured that divide and conquer is alive and well.
EAGLE FEATHERS: To Bernard Ominayak, Fred Lennarson and all
those at the front lines in the continuing battle for the land.