Resolution about the Innu in Nitassinan.
Whereas since time immemorial the Innu have
been the inhabitants of the area now used by
Canadian, German, Dutch and British airforces
for military flight training;
And whereas they have never signed a treaty
with the government of Canada giving away their
land, or given Canada any authority to use
their land and airspace for resource
developments like military flight training,
logging or building dams.
And whereas during the last United Nation
Working Group on Indigenous Populations in
Geneva, the delegation of Canada ,reviewing the
developments pertaining to the promotion and
protection of human rights and fundamental
freedoms of Indigenous Populations, repeated
the statement made at the inaugural ceremony
for the internnational Decade, during which was
stated that Canada's Aboriginal policy is
following two broad themes:
Building a new partnership which is based on
trust, mutual respect and aboriginal
participation in decision-making; and
strengthening Aboriginal communities through
initiatives designed to build stronger,
healthier and more self-reliant communities
And whereas the Canadian Department of National
Defence (DND) spend $10 million to study the
impacts, the Environmental Assessment Panel
reported that uncertainty remains with respect
to both the environmental and health effects of
low-level flying and the effectiveness of the
DND's avoidance program;
And whereas on May 1st of this year, the
Canadian government conditionally approved an
increase in the number of annual military
training sorties from 7,000 to 18,000,
including 15,000 low-level sorties and an
expansion of the Low-Level Training Area
(LLTA's) from a 100,000 square kilometers to a
130,000 square kilometers with additional
bombing ranges;
And whereas these decisions were made with
complete disregard for the rights, safety and
future of the Innu people, and without adequate
protection for the environment on which the
Innu strongly depend for their livelihood, the
continuation of their traditional way of life,
and their existence as a distinct people;
And whereas the Innu people have stated, that
low level flighing is seriousley affecting
their physical, psychological and spiritual
health and the natural and human environment,
and is contributing to the further collapse of
Innu culture and society, and as such is
considered genocide
And whereas the Panel reported that these
uncertainties, along with the social tension
and polarization around the project, were such
that a first reaction might be that the project
should not proceed;
And whereas the Panel concluded that the
economic benefits of the project to the largely
non-aboriginal community of 8,600 people in
Happy Valley-Goose Bay outweighed the rights of
the Innu and environmental protection;
And whereas the Canadian Cabinet supported the
recommendation of the Panel to establish an
Institute to monitor the military flight
training and to gather more information about
the environment, including Aboriginal land use;
And whereas the Innu Nation is not opposed to
the idea of an Institute, and even made a
proposal to the Canadian Government regarding
how the Institute should be structured before
their decision of May 1st;
And whereas the Canadian government completely
ignored this proposal and a request for a
technical meeting;
And whereas decisions were taken without any
further discussion with, or notification to the
Innu people;
And whereas the Dutch, German and British
governments have to follow strict laws and
regulations to ensure the safety of their
citizens when conducting military flight
training over their own territories;
Now therefore the participants of the Tenth
Annual Meeting of Support Groups for North
American Indigenous Peoples, representing 25
organizations from 10 European countries,
strongly urge the Dutch, German and British
governments to:
1) treat the Innu equal to their own citizens,
and observe the same laws and regulations
concerning military flight activities in Canada
as they are obliged to meet in their own
countries;
2) postpone renewal of the Multinational
Memorandum of Understanding until the
environmental viability of current training
levels and possible increases has been
determined by the Institute;
3) recognize the Institute and its work only
if:
- it is to be a regulatory Institute with
decision-making power, so that crucial
environmental studies and decisions about
military low-level flying are not only made by
the Canadian Department of Defence;
- it is not based on the the philosophy of
adaptive management, which runs contrary to the
protection of the environment and disregards
Innu rights and safety;
- Innu have an important decision-making role
in the Institute, because they are the people
most affected by low-level flying;
- the Institute is structered so that decisions
require a majority of all of the members plus a
majority of the Aboriginal members;
4) cap the present sortie levels in the present
zones;
5) renew the present MMOU only if the Institute
decides that current or increased levels of
low-level flying are environmentally viable,
and then only with current sortie levels in the
present zones on a year to year basis, until
the future of low-level flying is determined in
a comprehensive rights agreement or sub-
agreement between Canada and the Innu Nation.
Moved bySeconded by
Mirjam Niemans,
Suzan Trubsbach
Innu Support Group
BIG MOUNTAIN Aktionsgruppe
Passed
Chairperson of the meeting
August 1st, 1995, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane,
Switzerland