October 12, 2005
Support the Lubicon on Parliament Hill
The Amnesty International student group at Cardinal Newman Catholic High School in Toronto is planning to present a "Pipeline of Hope" in Ottawa on Parliament Hill
Monday, October 17, 2005
11 am - 1 pm
This "pipeline" will be a long bolt of fabric laid over columns, holding signature petitions demanding the federal government resolve the Lubicon issue.
The event is timed to coincide with a hearing at the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in Geneva, where Canada's human rights performance will be reviewed by the Committee. The Committee has specifically asked Canada to explain what it is doing to rectify the Lubicon situation, fifteen years after a previous UNHRC ruling that Canada is violating the Lubicon peoples fundamental rights.
In 1990, the United Nations Human Rights Committee concluded that "historical inequities - and certain more recent developments threaten the way of life and culture of the Lubicon Lake Band". The UNHRC ruled that "so long as they continue" these threats are a violation of their fundamental human rights under Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. They urged Canada to resolve the issue.
Since that time little progress has been made and there have been no negotiations towards a settlement in the last two years.
Canadians should be outraged that, for a country, which prides itself in upholding human rights, the federal and provincial government have allowed the Lubicon to suffer for so long. And we, as a nation - either through ignorance, apathy, or defeat - have remained silent. But the time for action is now!
Let us show our support for the Lubicon and give them hope! The Lubicon are tired of oil or gas pipelines and wells, polluting their territory. Let us give them a "Pipeline of Hope"!
Join Newman students to lay the Pipeline on Parliament Hill 11 am-1pm on Monday, October 17, 2005.
Add to the pipeline with your own fabric petition signed by your group member, or simply add your name to the existing pipeline! We‚re trying to get as many people to come to the event, including other schools, faith groups, politicians, and the media. Together, we can make our voices count!
For more information about the Pipeline of Hope, send questions to:
Peter Petrasek or Audrey Ferrer
Cardinal Newman Catholic High School
Email: audferrer@yahoo.com, peter.petrasek@tcdsb.org School
Phone: (416) 393-5519
School Fax: (416) 393-5510
For Immediate Release March 30, 2005
New heavy oil development threatens Lubicon land
Lubicon Lake Indian Nation challenges Deep Well Oil and Gas, Surge Global Energy and Welwyn Resources
LITTLE BUFFALO, ALBERTA – Deep Well Oil and Gas (DWOG:PK) and Surge Global Energy (SRGG:OB) announced Monday that they intend to begin drilling heavy oil wells on their Sawn Lake leases “prior to July 27, 2005”. Surge CEO Fred Kelly says that “The Sawn Lake drilling site has been cleared and the first few loads of the drilling rig have been racked upon the location, and preparation of the lease has commenced.”
“What Surge and Deep Well don’t tell investors is that the Sawn Lake area is part of Lubicon Traditional Territory, and that ‘preparation of the lease’ was blocked earlier this month by the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation when we found that the company was clearing trees in our Traditional Territory without consulting the Lubicon Nation,” said Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak.
“The leases these companies hold in the Sawn Lake area fall entirely within the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation’s Traditional Territory,” Chief Ominayak said. “The Lubicon Nation has never ceded aboriginal title to our lands in any Treaty and we have never been consulted about these leases or the company’s resource exploitation plans. We will continue to oppose any further development until our concerns have been addressed.”
The Lubicon Nation requested a meeting with senior executives from Deep Well Oil and Gas last September to discuss their proposed oil sands project but, despite promises to do so, they have not met with Lubicon leadership.
The Lubicon Nation has been engaged in negotiations with both Canada and Alberta over the rights to the lands and resources in their Traditional Territory. Deep Well’s leases overlap a one-mile buffer zone around future reserve lands in which Alberta agreed no development was to take place until the reserve is formally recognized. Still, Alberta continues to issue leases to exploit Lubicon resources prior to settlement.
The companies involved in the Sawn Lake project have close ties to the Alberta Provincial government. Deep Well’s Chairman is former Alberta Cabinet Minister Horst Schmid. Scobey Hartley, a close friend of Premier Klein and until recently Vice President of Communications for the Alberta PC Association, is Chairman of Welwyn Resources Ltd. (WLN:TVX), another partner in the project. And Deep Well Director Len Bolger is involved in a senior capacity with two organizations created by the Alberta government to do research work in this sector; the Alberta Energy Research Council and the Alberta Oil Sands Technology Research Authority.
Heavy oil exploitation projects have been linked to groundwater depletion and contamination in other areas. The companies plans up to 512 heavy oil wells in a 63 section area immediately adjacent to proposed Lubicon reserve lands.
For more information, please contact
Lubicon Lake Indian Nation Tel: 780-629-3945
Fred Lennarson Tel: 780-481-1150
Winter 2005 Campaign To Support
The Lubicon Lake Indian Nation
The Campaign ran from February 6 until March 13, 2005.
More information at "Wells,
Pipelines and Broken Promises"
Every time a new oil or gas well or pipeline is approved for development in Lubicon Traditional Territory, you will receive an e-mail message from OLS informing you that yet another development has been authorized to steal Lubicon resources. You will then take a few minutes to send an email, fax or letter to your local MP, cc'ing it to the Prime Minister and Minister of Indian Affairs.
It's that simple.
Please consider participating in this important new initiative. With your help we hope to demonstrate that a significant number of Canadians and other supporters around the world are paying close attention to how the Martin government handles this critical issue. more........
Journey to Justice
Wednesday
October 22, 2003
between 2 & 4 pm
Join
us on Parliament Hill
Join Lubicon supporters and walk the “Long & Winding
Road to Justice”, which is designed to simulate the Lubicon
Cree Nation’s 70-year quest for a land rights settlement.
The journey begins in the 1930s, when the Lubicons were a self-reliant hunting and trapping society living off the land. It twists and turns through road building, resource exploitation, court challenges, forest fires, blockades, boycotts, failed negotiations and much more, before finally ending at the foot of the Parliament Hill steps with Jean Chrétien's 1993 promise to establish a Lubicon reserve and resolve their land rights.
For more information contact Ed. Bianchi at 613.235.9956
Download a printable pdf "Journey to Justice" poster for the event
Countdown to Justice: Unfinished Business
In 1993, as Leader of the Opposition, Jean Chrétien wrote a letter expressing his support for a settlement of the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation's land rights.
He wrote that "time is wasting" and that it was "time for action," and that he "consider[ed] the Lubicon claim to be a priority."
These were welcome words for the Lubicon, who had been waiting since 1939 for the Government of Canada to fulfill its promise of reserve lands. For this small Aboriginal society in northern Alberta, the years had brought social and economic collapse–the result of resource exploitation that destroyed their traditional hunting and trapping economy. For the oil and logging companies that moved into Lubicon territory with the sanction of the Government of Alberta, the years were profitable: oil and gas revenues, for example, reached $500 million per year.
Nine years have passed since Chrétien wrote his words of support for the Lubicons. There is still no settlement of Lubicon land rights. It's our hope that Prime Minister Chrétien will fulfill his promise before leaving office in February 2004. A settlement is certainly possible within that time: the issues are well defined and the relevant technical work has been done. What seems to be missing is the drive to conclude a fair settlement. With Mr. Chrétien's personal involvement, direction and willpower, Lubicon land rights could, at long last, be resolved.
Chrétien has made clear that he is looking to leave behind a proud legacy when he finishes his many years of service as Prime Minister. To fulfill the promise of a fair Lubicon settlement after so many years would be a tangible legacy that would win acclaim, not only from Canadians, but from the many people around the world who have expressed concern over this long-standing human rights tragedy.
More importantly, it would provide the Lubicon people with the means to survive on their now-devastated land.