Mailing address:
3536 - 106 Street
Edmonton, AB T6J 1A4
403-436-5652
FAX: 403-437-0719
June 24, 1992
On February 4th a New Democrat member of the Provincial Legislative
Assembly named John McInnis asked Lubicon advisor Fred Lennarson if
there was anything Provincial New Democrat Leader and Leader of the
Official Opposition in Alberta Ray Martin could do to help facilitate
a settlement of Lubicon land rights. Mr. McInnis offered that
perhaps it would be helpful if Mr. Martin convened a group of
prominent Albertans to issue a statement urging the Federal and
Provincial Governments to settle.
Fred Lennarson suggested that it might be a good idea to first wait
and hear the Federal Government's reaction to a Lubicon draft
settlement agreement expected at a meeting scheduled for February
14th between Lubicon Chief Ominayak, Federal Indian Affairs Minister
Tom Siddon and Provincial Native Affairs Minister Dick Fowler. When
the promised Federal Government reaction to the Lubicon draft
settlement agreement wasn't forthcoming on February 14th or at a
subsequent meeting between the Chief and the two Ministers on
February 21st, Fred Lennarson proposed to Mr. McInnis that it might
be more helpful if Mr. Martin convened an independent, non-partisan
Citizens Commission to publicly study, compare, assess and pronounce
upon Lubicon settlement proposals and the Federal Government's so-
called "take-it-or-leave-it" settlement offer.
Over the next couple of weeks the idea of an independent, non-
partisan citizens commission convened by Mr. Martin in his official
capacity as Leader of the Official Opposition, as distinct from his
partisan position as leader of the Provincial New Democrats, was
discussed by Mr. Martin and his colleagues. In the end Mr. Martin
concluded that such a commission would serve the public interest by
helping the public better understand the outstanding issues between
the Government and the Lubicons.
On March 12th Federal officials gave the Lubicons a "book" of
supposedly new reserve community construction proposals entitled
"LUBICON LAKE CAPITAL WORKS". These supposedly new Federal proposals
for constructing a Lubicon reserve community made no pretence of
responding to detailed Lubicon settlement proposals and in fact only
very slightly re-cast the community construction section of the
Federal Government's so-called "take-it-or-leave-it" offer tabled in
January of 1989.
On May 6th Federal officials gave the Lubicons a second "book" of
supposedly new Lubicon settlement proposals which essentially
reiterated the contents of first "book" plus added over 100 pages of
general descriptive materials on standard Government programs to
which Indians in Canada may apply. In other words "book two" is
basically just a more complicated rendition of the Federal
Government's so-called "take-it-or-leave-it" offer; namely, the
clearly inadequate so-called "take-it-or-leave-it" offer plus advice
to the Lubicons to apply to normal Government programs to try and
obtain funds to finance essential settlement items not covered in the
Government's so-called "take-it-or-leave-it" offer.
At this point it was clear that Federal officials smugly thought that
they had the Lubicons over a tactical barrel. As long as the
Lubicons stayed at the negotiating table -- behind closed doors at
the insistence of the Government -- Mr. Siddon and Daishowa's Tom
Hamaoka could deflect criticism and undercut the Daishowa boycott by
claiming that appropriate remedial action is being taken and that
progress is being made. On the other hand if the Lubicons refused to
participate in these sham negotiations officials of the Government
and Daishowa could claim that they were doing everything possible to
try and resolve the matter but that the unreasonable Lubicons were
refusing to talk.
On May 21st Ray Martin announced creation of an independent, non-
partisan Lubicon Settlement Commission and deftly stood the tactical
situation on end. Without the Lubicons leaving the table the public
would now have access to the substantive information necessary for
people to be able to decide for themselves whether the Government is
taking appropriate remedial action and progress is being made, or if
the current round of supposed negotiations is in fact just further
reason to criticize the Government's handling of the Lubicon
situation.
In other words on May 20th the Lubicons were damned if they stayed at
the negotiating table and damned if they left. On May 21st the
Government was damned if they appeared before the Lubicon Settlement
Commission to answer questions about what was going on -- and damned
if they didn't.
The Federal Government's predictable first reaction to announcement
of the Lubicon Settlement Commission was "no comment". In a near
verbatim replay of a line which representatives of both levels of
Canadian Government have used repeatedly over the years to deflect
questions about the Lubicon situation, Federal Indian Affairs PR man
Wayne Hanna told reporters that the Federal Government wouldn't
comment because "the Department doesn't want to jeopardize sensitive
negotiations taking place right now".
Chief Ominayak responded to Mr. Hanna's public statement about
"sensitive negotiations" by telling reporters that "negotiations are
going nowhere, the Federal Government still hasn't responded to
Lubicon settlement proposals (presented to them last November 1st)
and all Federal representatives keep doing is re-tabling their 1989
so-called take-it-or-leave-it offer".
This kind of exchange in the media between the Lubicons and
representatives of Canadian Government of course isn't new. What was
new, as representatives of both levels of Canadian Government
understood very well, was that within a matter of days the Lubicon
Settlement Commission would start pulling the shroud away from what
was really happening with Lubicon settlement talks.
To some extent the Fulton Inquiry had the same effect of subjecting
the Lubicon situation to outside scrutiny, although that effect was
unintentional in the case of the Fulton Inquiry and the Government
had the power to simply shut-down the Fulton Inquiry when it became
apparent that Mr. Fulton was proceeding as a truly independent third
party instead of just another Government apologist. Shutting-down an
independent, non-partisan Commission of credible, prominent Canadians
was clearly going to be tougher to do.
On May 26th Fred Lennarson received a telephone call from an official
of the Alberta Regional Office of Indian Affairs asking about the
possibility of arranging a meeting that coming Friday between Mr.
Lennarson and Federal Indian Affairs Deputy Minister Harry Swain.
The purpose of the meeting, Mr. Lennarson was told, was "to try and
identify some common ground". Mr.Lennarson said that he'd discuss
the proposed meeting with Chief Ominayak.
The afternoon of May 27th Fred Lennarson advised Departmental
officials that Chief Ominayak had authorized him to meet with Dr.
Swain. Mr. Lennarson was told that he would receive a phone call
from Alberta Indian Affairs Regional Director General Garry Wouters
regarding details of the proposed meeting with Dr. Swain.
The evening of May 27th Fred Lennarson received a phone call from Mr.
Wouters advising Mr. Lennarson that Mr. Wouters couldn't confirm a
Friday meeting with Dr. Swain because Dr. Swain might be called back
to Ottawa for Constitutional talks. A tentative meeting time of 1 pm
on Friday was agreed, however, and Mr. Wouters promised that either
he or Dr. Swain would phone Mr. Lennarson back about the proposed
meeting. Mr. Wouters then engaged Fred Lennarson in a broadly
ranging discussion of settlement issues, presumably to try and get
some sense of how the proposed Friday meeting between Dr. Swain and
Mr. Lennarson might go.
About 1:30 pm Friday afternoon Fred Lennarson received a telephone
call from Mr. Wouters advising Mr. Lennarson that a meeting was
impossible because Dr. Swain had been called back to Ottawa for
Constitutional talks. Mr. Wouters asked about the possibility of his
meeting with Mr. Lennarson the following Monday or Tuesday. Mr.
Wouters was told that Mr. Lennarson had been asked to appear before
the Lubicon Settlement Commission along with the Lubicons the
following Monday and Tuesday. It's unlikely that Mr. Wouters didn't
know about the well publicized Lubicon appearance before the Lubicon
Settlement Commission scheduled for the following Monday and Tuesday.
It was later learned that Dr. Swain hadn't left for Ottawa that
Friday without first meeting with Lubicon lawyer Bob Sachs.
Apparently Dr. Swain had decided that his message to the Lubicons
might be better transmitted through Mr. Sachs than Mr. Lennarson.
Dr. Swain told Bob Sachs that "The Minister is ticked-off over being
lambasted in the House and the newspapers". He told Sachs that "last
week (Swain) had to spend all afternoon with the Austrian Ambassador
on the Lubicon issue". He told Mr. Sachs that "Lennarson's been
talking to his friends in the Green Party and questions were raised
in the Austrian Parliament". He told Mr. Sachs that he'd been
instructed by Mr. Siddon to tell the Chief that "you can't suck and
blow at the same time". He threatened to "pull the plug" on
negotiations if the Lubicons didn't stop commenting publicly on lack
of progress in negotiations. He made clear that the Minister was
particularly concerned over the proposed Lubicon appearance before
the Lubicon Settlement Commission.
The Lubicons appeared as scheduled before the Lubicon Settlement
Commission the following Monday and Tuesday, June 1st and 2nd. Lack
of progress around the negotiating table was discussed in detail and
Bob Sachs reported to the Commission on the threat made by Dr. Swain
the previous Friday. (A complete 61 page transcript of Commission
proceedings is available upon request.)
The next day, June 3rd, Alberta Regional Office PR man Wayne Hanna
told reporters that Dr. Swain categorically denied making the threat.
Mr. Hanna said "Canada doesn't want to pull out of negotiations and
is committed to negotiating a settlement and building a new community
but...will not negotiate in the media".
The morning of June 4th a Ministerial Special Assistant named Doug
Hoover phoned Chief Ominayak and told the Chief that Mr. Siddon would
like to speak with him by phone at 1 pm Alberta time. Mr. Hoover
said "The Minister is concerned about the log-jam (in negotiations)
and wants to see if there isn't something he can do to move things
along". Mr. Hoover said "The Minister is prepared to push everything
aside and come to Little Buffalo with (Provincial Native Affairs
Minister) Fowler tomorrow".
Mr. Siddon phoned Chief Ominayak at 1 pm as promised. He expressed
concern over the impact of what he called "the Martin Commission" and
asked if the Chief could meet with him and Mr. Fowler in Little
Buffalo the following day. Chief Ominayak agreed to the proposed
meeting.
Mr. Siddon told the Chief "I thought everything was going fine".
"Then", he said, "the press went after me".
Chief Ominayak told Mr. Siddon "Your people have been dealing with
the media all along, including a private, confidential meeting with
senior CBC staff". (On March 20th, a full month after seeking
agreement that negotiations would not be discussed with the media,
Mr. Wouters met and discussed media coverage of the Lubicon situation
with senior CBC management officials. Senior CBC management
officials invited to participate in the meeting included the CBC
Director for both radio and TV in Alberta, the Executive Producer of
Current Affairs for the CBC in Alberta, the Senior Editor of CBC
Radio News in Edmonton, the Director of CBC radio in Edmonton, the
Executive Producer of CBC English TV in Edmonton, the Director of CBC
English TV in Edmonton, the Senior Editor of CBC Radio News in
Calgary, the Director of CBC Radio News in Calgary and the head of
CBC-TV in Calgary. It doesn't take much imagination to draw certain
pretty unsavoury conclusions about the purpose and intent of such a
meeting, especially when neither the Lubicons nor the CBC reporters
responsible for covering the Lubicon story were informed of the
meeting nor asked for a reaction to Government concerns over Lubicon
media coverage. As the senior officials of the CBC of course know,
the CBC receives its operating funds from the Government.)
Regarding negotiations Chief Ominayak told Mr. Siddon "I thought
things were going fine too until we got a couple of books which threw
it all out the window".
Later on June 4th an inter-denominational group of Canadian Church
leaders announced that they would re-visiting the Lubicon community
of Little Buffalo Lake the following week on a "fact-finding
mission". A spokesman for the group said that the Church leaders
wanted to see what had happened to the Lubicons since their last
visit in 1984 and to then prepare a report for the Lubicon Settlement
Commission as well as for the World Council of Churches in Geneva.
(Following the 1984 visit the Canadian Church leaders supported a
charge by the World Council of Churches that "the Alberta Provincial
Government and dozens of multi-national oil companies have taken
actions (in the Lubicon area) which could have genocidal
consequences".)
The evening of June 4th Mr. Hoover gave New Democrat Member of
Parliament Ross Harvey insight into the Mulroney Government's curious
definition of what constitutes right and proper behaviour for public
officials. During a plane ride from Ottawa to Edmonton Mr. Hoover
told Mr. Harvey that Dr. Swain privately admitted threatening to
"pull the plug" on negotiations if the Lubicons didn't stop publicly
commenting on lack of progress. However, Mr. Hoover asserted, it
wasn't Dr. Swain who should be censored for making such threats and
then publicly lying about it but Mr. Sachs -- for publicly revealing
something supposedly said in anger during a private meeting. Mr.
Hoover told Mr. Harvey that "Sachs has permanently damaged his
relationship with Departmental officials". He also told Mr. Harvey
that "Lubicons settlement proposals are so outrageous that no
reasonable person could possibly take them seriously".
Upon arriving in Edmonton Ross Harvey showed his quite different
sense of what's right and proper behaviour for public officials by
advising Fred Lennarson what Special Assistant Hoover had said. Fred
Lennarson told Ross Harvey that Lubicon settlement proposals would
shortly be vetted publicly by 12 honest citizens on the Lubicon
Settlement Commission and that soon everybody would be able to judge
for themselves whether Lubicon settlement proposals are reasonable,
as the Lubicons argue, or outrageous as claimed by Hoover and
company. (Mr. Hoover was of course at the time of his conversation
with Mr. Harvey flying across the country for the Minister's
emergency meeting with Chief Ominayak -- a meeting obviously intended
to try and deflect the clearly dreaded possibility of a public
discussion of Lubicon settlement proposals.)
The morning of June 5th it was widely reported that Mr. Siddon and
Mr. Fowler were on their way to Little Buffalo for an "historic
meeting" with the Lubicons to get the negotiations back on track.
With such short notice it was not expected that reporters would be
physically able to get to Little Buffalo to cover the "historic
meeting". Much to the chagrin of Messrs. Siddon and Fowler, however,
a number of reporters did manage to get to Little Buffalo to cover
the "historic meeting".
Messrs. Siddon, Fowler, Wouters and Hoover arrived in Little Buffalo
about 1 pm on June 5th. They were served lunch by the Lubicons and
then provided with a brief tour of the community. Following lunch Mr.
Siddon predictably asked that reporters be barred from the meeting.
After the reporters left Chief Ominayak thanked Mr. Siddon and Mr.
Fowler for visiting Little Buffalo Lake and providing an opportunity
"to achieve better mutual understanding". Since Mr. Siddon had asked
for the meeting, the Chief said, "We would now like to hear what you
have to say".
Mr. Siddon said "This is a day long awaited". He said "I think it's
important to see the needs and then try to be helpful". He said
"That's been my approach over the last two years as Minister". He
said "I have travelled across the country meeting with people". He
said "We have come to know each other better". He said "We need to
re-build the trust which for many reasons has been destroyed over the
years.
Mr. Siddon said "There is this feeling that we're not human beings
and we don't care". He said "I care". He said "I want to solve
problems, not create problems".
Mr. Siddon said "In some way I want to make-up for the injustices of
the past and pave the way for the future". He said "As I studied
Lubicon history and the background of the problem, I felt that if I
could get together with the Chief and Mr. Fowler we could make
progress".
Mr. Siddon said "We all have advisors but we have to make the
decisions". He said "I therefore decided to do more than rely on
advisors".
Mr. Siddon said "I asked to meet with the Chief last November".
"Since then", he said, "we have had two or three good meetings".
Mr. Siddon said "It's easy to have a debate when it's all over the
newspapers creating the impression that we're fighting with each
other". He said "That's not my approach". He said "I'd like to work
quietly to solve problems".
"First", Mr. Siddon said, "we need to create a proper reserve and
proper community". He said "We need to create a land base and design
the kind of community your people need". He said "We should try to
get on with it".
Mr. Siddon said "We have done some drilling (to check for sources of
potable water) and soil testing and we will be doing some design work
so that this community can become a reality". He said "We need to
start thinking positively about the kind of social and economic
support people need". He said "We don't want to see our progress
impeded by controversy".
"Secondly", Mr. Siddon said, "we want creation of the land base
agreed with Premier Getty and to correct whatever mistakes were made
in the past in the form of compensation". He said "That may have to
be mediated or arbitrated but I think we can do that".
"Lastly", Mr. Siddon said, "we are dealing with a major legal
question having to do with aboriginal title". He said "I am bound by
what the Constitution and laws have to say about that". He said "The
way we build that into an agreement may eventually have to be built
into an agreement in a legal way".
Mr. Siddon said "If we are all of good will we will be able to solve
the situation". He said "I'm not here to negotiate but to see how we
can make progress". He said "I hope for a happy day".
Mr. Siddon said "That's why I'm here". He said "I gather that's
historic for a Minister -- two Ministers -- to visit". He said "I
hope together we can find a solution".
Elder Edward Laboucan said (through a translator) "Welcome". He said
"We're glad that you've taken the time to come and see for
yourselves". He said "It's been a long time, far too long to achieve
a rightful settlement". He said "I hope something will be possible".
Chief Ominayak said "I have a number of remarks to make in response
to Mr. Siddon's remarks". "When we met last November 1st", he said,
"we tabled our draft settlement agreement with you and you promised a
response". He said "We're still waiting for your response".
Mr. Siddon said "I didn't know that we needed to make a response but
we will".
Chief Ominayak said "I think if we did get a response to Lubicon
settlement proposals we would be able to start moving toward a
settlement". He said "Moving toward a settlement won't be possible
as long as you keep trying to fit us into your take-it-or-leave-it
offer".
Chief Ominayak said "We also need to have the proposed independent
cost assessor look at Lubicon settlement proposals as well as at
Government settlement proposals". He said "That was the original
idea but we've had some trouble achieving agreement on terms of
reference". He said "That may be resolved now but we would
appreciate your assurance that Lubicon proposals will be included in
the independent cost assessor's terms of reference, as well as
Government proposals".
Mr. Siddon said "The Government's Lubicon proposal contains the three
items discussed". He said "It comes down to a total figure". He said
"Federal proposals responded to community construction proposals,
vocational training, community funding and it also contained
compensation".
Mr. Siddon said "In total magnitude the Government's offer is far
larger than any land claim settlement I know in Canada". "But", he
said, "the Lubicon request is greater still and far greater than any
other land claim that's been done, largely due to the compensation
claimed for oil development of traditional Lubicon lands".
Mr. Siddon said "The terms of reference are for a new modern
community equivalent to any in the country". He said "The numbers of
houses, the size of the school -- that's all tied to numbers and is
part of the package we've been discussing". "If your request is for
a community equal to any in Canada", he said, "it's there".
"However", he said, "if you're asking for more houses than the
numbers can justify, or a bigger school than the numbers can justify,
we can't do it".
Mr. Siddon said "There's provision for compensation for lost use of
lands if reserve lands had been created under Treaty 8 in 1939". He
said "That's $25,000 per person plus a proposal development fund plus
compensation for things your people haven't enjoyed since the 1930s
and 40s".
"If we break these things into these three elements", Mr. Siddon
said, "I think it's possible to deal with the community and the fact
that the reserve wasn't created but that will mean accepting the
terms of Treaty 8". "And the last element of aboriginal land rights
and compensation", he said, "something we're not obligated to do --
that becomes a legal question".
Mr. Fowler said "The community would be built while compensation and
aboriginal rights is being settled".
Chief Ominayak asked "Does the Government have any document or other
evidence that shows the Lubicon people signed Treaty 8 or ever ceded
traditional Lubicon lands in any legally or historically recognized
way?" He said "The Province has been in here granting all kinds of
licences and leases to all kinds of development companies who've been
taking billions and billions of dollars worth of Lubicon resources
without our permission".
Chief Ominayak said "You speak of supposedly outrageous numbers
including Lubicon proposals being eight to ten times richer than the
recent Ouje-Bougoumou settlement". He said "We checked that and
found that the dollar value of our proposals is well within the
parameters of settlement agreements across the country including the
Ouje-Bougoumou Cree, who, with a slightly smaller population, settled
for a $75 million community construction package compared to a $70
million dollar proposed community construction package for the
Lubicons -- with compensation unresolved in both cases".
Chief Ominayak said "Both levels of Canadian Government have
benefitted greatly from development of Lubicon lands, extracting
billions and billions of dollars worth of Lubicon resources". He
said "The proposed Lubicon settlement package is a very good deal for
both levels of (Canadian) Government".
Chief Ominayak said "We receive reports that your advisor (Special
Assistant Hoover) has been telling people that we will never receive
what we seek". "If that's correct", the Chief said, "then there's no
need to keep talking".
Chief Ominayak said "Lubicon settlement proposals are the result of
long and difficult negotiations with both levels of (Canadian)
Government". "What's left", he said, "is what we ended up with after
everything that could be taken out was taken out". He said "You've
repeatedly promised to respond". He said "We're still awaiting your
response".
Chief Ominayak said "I see your people are still trying to fit us
into your take-it-or-leave-it offer". He said "Having access to
existing programs to which the Lubicon people are entitled anyway is
not settlement of unextinguished Lubicon aboriginal land rights".
Mr. Siddon said "You make a very persuasive point Chief". He said
"I've directed my officials to see if we can't move forward on
building a community". He said "That means programs based on your
equivalence to Treaty 8".
Mr. Siddon said "I am sensitive to your concern that your people
didn't give up your aboriginal title". "However", he said, "our
legal people tell us that legal decisions like Bear Island mean that
title was extinguished". He said "It may be a long debate". He said
"I can't go to Cabinet and ask for a great deal of money when that
debate isn't settled".
Mr. Siddon said "We need to get on with building a community and
meeting the social and economic needs". He said "We can get the
(reserve) land transferred which I understand is greater than
provided by Treaty 8".
Chief Ominayak repeated "Lubicon reserve construction and reserve
land proposals are well within what has been provided under Treaty 8
and in other aboriginal land rights settlements". He said "What
we're looking for is no more and no less than what's necessary to
start rebuilding our society which has been destroyed by your
development activity". He said "We would hope that your people would
look at our proposals".
Chief Ominayak said "If the independent cost assessors are to look at
the issue they must be able to look at all of the proposed items".
"If the independent cost assessors agree that the costs are
reasonable", the Chief asked, "what will be the position of the
Federal Government?"
Mr. Siddon said "It seems to me that if your community comprises 100
families we have the means of determining how many houses, what size
school, water, roads". He said "All of those things seem
straightforward". "If there's a difference on the number of houses",
he said, "our officials can work that out". "But", he said, "we
can't build more houses than you have people".
Mr. Siddon repeated "I'm advised that the proposed community is
similar to other communities built in Canada". "If you're not
satisfied with that", he asked, "I'd like to hear why".
Chief Ominayak said "I'm not talking about building houses for non-
existent people but building essential community facilities which are
spelled out in detail in the Lubicon draft settlement agreement". He
said "As long as you keep shifting the focus away from those
proposals and back onto your take-it-or-leave-it offer we won't make
any progress".
Mr. Siddon said "We agreed that the days of the take-it-or-leave-it
offer are over".
Chief Ominayak said "We agreed but you keep starting at the same
point". He said "I hoped through this effort on your part and on the
part of the Provincial Government we might make some progress".
Mr. Siddon said "When we started talking last November we weren't
talking about anybody's proposal but the need to build a new
community to modern standards, the same as with all other
communities, and far superior to communities any place else in the
world". (In fact following that meeting Mr. Siddon publicly
acknowledged receipt of the Lubicon proposals and said that he would
be looking at them "very, very carefully". For details on the
meeting see mail-out dated November 16, 1991.)
"Then", Mr. Siddon said, "we deal with the land base and some form of
compensation". He said "We've agreed on a process to make that
possible".
"The third issue", Mr. Siddon said, "is a difficult one". He said "I
can't ask Cabinet to break all of the laws and rules on your
account".
Chief Ominayak said "We're not asking you to break all the laws and
rules". He said "We're asking you to apply the same laws and rules
you've applied to others historically". He said "The question is how
long have other communities been receiving benefits while we were
receiving none."
Chief Ominayak repeated "Our goal is to rebuild our society which has
been destroyed for the great benefit of your society". He said "If
we're here to see how we can fix this long-standing injustice we have
something to talk about". "If all you want to talk about is building
another welfare community", he said, "then we have nothing to talk
about".
(Continued in the next message)