Mailing address:
3536 - 106 Street
Edmonton, AB T6J 1A4
403-436-5652
FAX: 403-437-0719
January 28, 1994
Enclosed for your information is a copy of a letter to Canadian Prime
Minister Jean Chretien concerning the plight of the Lubicons. The
letter is from Mrs. Erica-Irene Daes, Chairperson of the U.N. Working
Group on Indigenous Populations.
* * * * *
January 15, 1994, from Mrs. Erica-Irene Daes, Chairperson of the
Working Group on Indigenous Populations, Centre for Human Rights,
United Nations, CH-1211 GENEVA IO, Switzerland, to Prime Minister
Jean Chretien
Your Honourable,
Please accept out sincere congratulations on the occasion of your
recent appointment as Prime Minister of Canada.
We would like to draw your attention to the situation of the Lubicon
Cree of northern Alberta.
As you may know, the Conservative Government of Canada has never
honoured the terms of a treaty with the Lubicon Cree.
In a letter dated May 27, 1993, you wrote: "As a start, we believe
the government should proceed with recommendation #5 of the
Settlement Commission of Review report to hold all royalties in trust
and withhold leases and permits on traditional Lubicon lands --
unless approved by the Lubicon. Moreover, future negotiations should
reflect the intent of recommendation #8, asserting that the
extinguishment of Aboriginal Rights must not be a condition for a
settlement -- a position consistent with Liberal policy".
It is our sincere hope that your Government will give his immediate
attention to your party's commitment, to negotiate a settlement with
the Lubicon Cree Peoples, a settlement that will be based on the
recommendations of the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review.
Your Honourable, we are looking forward to a new relationship between
the Government of Canada and his Aboriginal Peoples.
Yours truly,
Mrs. Erica-Irene Daes