Lubicon Lake Indian Nation Little Buffalo Lake, Alberta Phone: 403-629-3945 Fax: 403-629-3939 Mailing address: 3536 - 106 Street Edmonton, Alberta T6J 1A4 Phone: 403-436-5652 Fax: 403-437-0719 August 19, 1994 At the end of July the Lubicon Settlement Commission sent Commission Co- Chair Jennifer Klimek to Geneva to make a submission on the Lubicon situation to the UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples. Informed in advance that Jennifer Klimek would be making a submission on the Lubicon situation to the Working Group Federal Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin and his Executive Assistant Brad Morse also travelled to Geneva -- reportedly to try and counter, deflect or at least buffer the impact of Jennifer Klimek's submission. Jennifer Klimek's submission was scheduled to be made on Thursday, July 28th but she arrived in Geneva on Sunday, July 24th in order to participate in a number of meetings with people and organizations concerned about the Lubicon issue. Since it was her first visit to Geneva Lubicon legal advisor Sharon Venne offered to help Jennifer Klimek with arrangements. The day after Jennifer Klimek arrived in Geneva Sharon Venne was approached by a lawyer from the Canadian Justice Department named Fred Caron and invited to dinner at the official residence of Canadian Ambassador Shannon. Although Sharon Venne also does work for others in Geneva she says that there was nothing she was doing in Geneva at the time which would have inspired an invitation to dine with the Canadian Ambassador except her contact with Jennifer Klimek and the Lubicon submission which Jennifer Klimek was scheduled to make later in the week. (Notably the Canadian Ambassador to the European Parliament sought to similarly deflect Lubicon Chief Ominayak from scheduled meetings with members of the European Parliament in Brussels last spring.) Suspicious of the motives behind the invitation Sharon Venne declined the invitation to dine with the Canadian Ambassador. Unwilling to take no for an answer Mr. Caron tried to convince Sharon Venne to change her mind by telling her that Mr. Irwin would be there and that she would have a chance to discuss the Lubicon situation with him. Sharon Venne again declined the invitation telling Mr. Caron that Mr. Irwin should be discussing the Lubicon situation with the Lubicons instead of with people in Geneva. Shortly thereafter a colleague of Sharon Venne's named Judy Sayers was contacted by the Canadian Embassy, invited to dine with the Canadian Ambassador and told to bring along her colleague Sharon Venne. Sayers also declined. (Notably after Chief Ominayak declined to cancel scheduled meetings with members of the European Parliament in order to attend an impromptu audience with the Canadian Ambassador to the European Parliament someone from the Canadian Embassy in Brussels appeared unannounced in the lobby of the European Parliament asking for an immediate, on-the-spot meeting with the Chief -- a meeting which the Chief was of course unable to accommodate without missing important scheduled meetings with members of the European Parliament.) Mr. Irwin personally appeared in the delegates lounge the morning of Wednesday, July 27th. The delegates lounge is a large room just outside of the hall where the Indigenous Work Group meets. It's also the place where one would expect to find people attending the meeting of the Indigenous Work Group -- like Sharon Venne and Jennifer Klimek. Sharon Venne was in the delegates lounge when Mr. Irwin arrived. Jennifer Klimek was upstairs in the same building attending a meeting. Mr. Irwin approached Sharon Venne and asked "Are you Sharon Venne". Sharon Venne said "yes". Mr. Irwin then introduced himself as the Canadian Federal Indian Affairs Minister and asked "Can we talk about the Lubicons". Sharon Venne told Mr. Irwin that he should talk to the Lubicons directly after which he commented absently that the delegates lounge "is the biggest coffee shop I've ever been in" and wandered off. Sharon Venne reported her encounter with Mr. Irwin to Jennifer Klimek who indicated that she'd never met Mr. Irwin and would like to meet him. The two women therefore returned to the delegates lounge and approached Mr. Irwin who was sitting at a table talking to representatives of the James Bay Cree. Sharon Venne introduced Jennifer Klimek as "Co-Chair of the Lubicon Settlement Commission". Mr. Irwin responded by saying that he's familiar with the Commission and the work of the Commission and that he'd like to get together with Jennifer Klimek and talk about the Lubicon situation. Jennifer told Mr. Irwin that she had no mandate from the Commission to discuss the Lubicon situation with him and offered that he should be talking directly to the Lubicons. Mr. Irwin told Jennifer Klimek that he "could talk to the Lubicons and make progress but it doesn't matter what I say or do because (Lubicon advisor) Lennarson will never be happy". Sharon Venne told Mr. Irwin "Lennarson is not the problem". She told Mr. Irwin "The problem is (Mr. Irwin's) response to Lubicon settlement proposals which are widely known and supported around the world". Following the exchange with Jennifer Klimek and Sharon Venne a number of other people approached Mr. Irwin about the Lubicon situation. One was a German journalist who'd recently completed an article for a major German travel magazine in which he recommended that people boycott western Canada over the treatment of the Lubicons. Another was a woman from Belgium who tried to give Mr. Irwin a number of letters addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Chretien supporting the Lubicons which Mr. Irwin refused to accept. After a number of people had approached Mr. Irwin on the Lubicon situation he became increasingly annoyed and started asking the people who approached him "Is there no issue of interest other than the Lubicons". Several of the people who approached Mr. Irwin over the Lubicon issue reportedly told him that settlement of Lubicon land rights is viewed around the world as a test of the new Chretien government's sincerity in the area of aboriginal land rights. The evening of July 27th Mr. Irwin met with representatives of the World Council of Churches who urged him to settle Lubicon land rights. Mr. Irwin responded by telling representatives of the WCC that the Lubicons are only one of 600 outstanding Indian land claims in Canada. On the morning of July 28th Jennifer Klimek and Sharon Venne both made submissions to the UN Indigenous Work Group. Jennifer Klimek's submission was applauded by the delegates after which an obviously annoyed Mr. Irwin stormed out of the hall. Following Sharon Venne's submission the Chair of the UN Indigenous Work Group Madam Erica-Irene Daes took the unusual step of thanking the two women for their submissions, indicating that she had a strong personal interest in the Lubicon case, calling herself a "long-time Lubicon supporter", describing the Lubicon situation as "terrible", expressing hope that the Canadian government will deal with the Lubicon situation and assuring the Lubicon people of her continuing support and the continuing support of the Indigenous Work Group of the United Nations. Enclosed for your information are copies of the submissions made to the Indigenous Work Group by Sharon Venne and Jennifer Klimek as well as related media coverage. * * * * * Attachment #1: Presentation to the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples by the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review 10336 - 114 Street Edmonton, Alberta Canada T5K 1S3 (403) 488-4767 FAX: (403) 488-4698 Commission on Human Rights Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Working Group on Indigenous Peoples Twelfth Session Agenda item 5 I am the co-chair of the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review, a group of Canadian citizens from all walks of life and backgrounds who have made a thorough study of the Lubicon case and brought forward specific recommendations to help the process along. The previous government, we found out, had stifled all possibilities of a just resolution by a take- it-or-leave-it offer that would have condemned the Lubicon people to a future of welfare, a situation which would destroy their dignity and their future as human beings. The Lubicon would have had to sign away all their aboriginal rights prior to entering into negotiations. There were no solid provisions made for economic development nor for compensation for decades of neglect, lost benefits and lost income from oil and gas development on their traditional land, not to mention the destruction of their traditional way of life which had allowed them to be self-sustaining for generations before oil and gas development invaded their world. One of the Commission's basic conclusions was that the Canadian government had negotiated in bad faith and had all the power in the negotiating process. We also found the Lubicon situation to be of the utmost urgency. The Canadian and provincial governments refused to participate in our hearings and ignored our recommendations, leaving the Lubicon society slowly to disintegrate, in poverty and despair. New hopes surged last October when the Liberal Party of Canada replaced the Progressive Conservatives as the new governing body in Canada. Indeed, during the election campaign the new Prime Minister Jean Chretien in a letter (which is attached to this intervention) to the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review stated: "We fully recognize that the Lubicon have struggled for over fifty year to secure a permanent land base and the means to preserve their way of life. And we believe --with negotiations suspended since 1989-- that the government has reneged on its fiduciary responsibility to the Lubicon people. "Time is wasting. As a start, we believe the government should proceed with recommendation number five of the Settlement Commission 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 the recommendation number eight, asserting that the extinguishment of Aboriginal rights must not be a condition for a settlement --a position consistent with Liberal policy. "...We support a swift resolution to all claims, and consider the Lubicon claim to be a priority." Further to this letter, the Liberal party at their annual convention in May 1994 adopted a resolution that the settlement of the Lubicon claim be a priority for the government. The Lubicon were the only Indigenous group specifically mentioned in that resolution. We hoped that when the process of negotiations began between the new government and the Lubicon that things would indeed move very swiftly. Unfortunately, we have to report our very deep disappointment regarding the most recent development of the Liberal government initiative on this issue. This came in the form of a letter dated July 11, 1994 from the Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin to Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak. Their offer to negotiate is unacceptable. It does not provide for the negotiation of all aspects of the claim exempting compensation and the continuation or acknowledgement of Indigenous rights. The Liberal government refuses to refer to an independent tribunal those conflicts that cannot be resolved through negotiations. The government wants to "make a fresh start", which means abandoning any meaningful progress made to date, such as reserve lands and the Fulton report. We are surprised and dismayed that the "new" government, which had promised so much, has delivered so little. Also, it should be remembered that matters already agreed upon with the former government --such as retaining unextinguished aboriginal land rights as a pre-condition of settlement talks, and the agreed-to land base-- were being wiped off the table. For these reasons, the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review is appealing to the Working Group members to monitor this situation with us and to raise a strong voice with the "new" Canadian government to help bring about a settlement which is fair to the Lubicons. Jennifer Klimek Co-Chair Geneva, 27 July 1994 * * * * * Attachment #2: Presentation to the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples by Sharon Venne Commission on Human Rights Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Working Group on Indigenous Peoples Twelfth Session Agenda item 5 Oral Intervention by Sharon Venne on behalf of the Lubicon Cree Since the last Working Group, there has been a change in government within the state of Canada. With the change, the Lubicon people looked forward to working with the new Liberal Government under the Prime Ministership of Jean Chretien. Prior to becoming the Prime Minister, Chretien had made some very positive statements concerning the Lubicon case. But, alas, initial positive feelings are giving way to the reality of the situation. On the 11th of July, 1994, Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin responded to a letter sent by Chief Bernard Ominayak. The letter came four months after a meeting in the course of which the Minister requested that the Lubicon people outline their position for restarting negotiations. The speedy response gives a whole new meaning to Chretien's motto "support a swift resolution". Irwin's response to the Chief's letter added a whole new dimension to the term: negotiation. (For the record, we are attaching Jean Chretien's, Irwin's and Chief Ominayak's letters to this submission.) The Chief's letter was completely and deceitfully misrepresented. The Lubicon have never been prepared to discuss with the Government a settlement of the Lubicon case based upon the notion that the Lubicon would extinguish their land rights. The Government of Canada may have been able to get other Indigenous Peoples to agree to the Canadian government's extinguishment policy. This has never been the case with the Lubicons. As Chief Bernard Ominayak stated in his letter dated 15 July, 1994: "First and foremost we have never been prepared to cede our unextinguished aboriginal land rights over our traditional Lubicon territory as a pre-condition of settlement talks. Nor will we ever be prepared to cede our unextinguished aboriginal rights as a pre- condition of settlement talks. All previous talks have been explicitly and by prior agreement without prejudice to our unceded aboriginal land rights--although it is true that the representatives of the Federal Government have often deceitfully claimed otherwise. While we may have little control over the lies which representatives of both levels of the Canadian Government frequently tell about the nature of any agreements we make with them we have absolutely no intention of allowing these lies to define our position or to go unchallenged." The Lubicon Cree have been waiting for over fifty years for the Government of Canada to come to the table in open, fair and honest negotiations. Over time, the Lubicon discovered that the Canadian Government is not interested in open, fair and honest negotiations. Instead, the Government is trying to browbeat and intimidate the Lubicon into accepting a settlement on the basis of conditions which are unacceptable. To accept the government's policy of extinguishment of Aboriginal land rights as a pre-condition for settlement would mean denying the heritage of their children and grandchildren. The fact that certain governments are attempting to intimidate indigenous delegates confirms the legitimacy of the claims voiced by these same delegates. * * * * * Attachment #3: Transcript of CBC Radio News Broadcast (7:30 A.M.) Thursday, July 28, 1994 CBC Radio United Nations officials in Geneva are getting an earful today on what's happening with the Lubicon Cree Indians. The Lubicons, who live in northwestern Alberta, have been trying to sign a treaty with Ottawa for more than 50 years. The U.N. is getting an update from Jennifer Klimek, an Edmonton lawyer who has studied the Lubicon situation. Christine McNab contacted Klimek in Geneva yesterday, and files this report. Christine McNab, CBC News People from around the world are in Geneva this week. They're there to take part in a United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples. Jennifer Klimek is a lawyer. She's part of a Commission in Alberta which has made recommendations as to how the Lubicon case should be settled. Today, she'll tell the Working Group about the latest developments. Jennifer Klimek, Co-Chair, Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review There certainly is an interest in it...over here. I've had several people talk to me about the Lubicon case. People are very much familiar with it. McNab Klimek says she hopes her presentation will push Canada's Indian Affairs Minister, Ron Irwin, to sit down with the Lubicons. Klimek I would hope that negotiations would start up in earnest, that Mr. Irwin would see fit to sit down and negotiate on all the issues that the Lubicons have on the table or want to resolve and to provide some mechanism for resolving them if they can't be resolved through negotiations. Simply leaving them hanging is not a resolution in any way. McNab Ron Irwin is in Geneva. A spokesperson from his office says he's attending the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples as an observer. But the spokesperson also says he's there because of his special interest in the Lubicon. * * * * * Attachment #4: Transcript of CBC Radio News Broadcast (10:00 A.M.) Thursday, July 28, 1994 CBC Radio A U.N. meeting in Geneva will hear a critical account today of how the federal government is treating the Lubicon Cree Indians. The Lubicon, who live in northwestern Alberta, have been trying to sign a treaty with Ottawa for more than 50 years. Jennifer Klimek, an Alberta lawyer who has studied the Lubicon situation, is talking to the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Peoples. CBC News has obtained a copy of her speech. Klimek slams the Chretien Government saying it has promised so much but delivered so little. Canada's Minister of Indian Affairs, Ron Irwin, is at the meeting. His office says Irwin is there as an observer. * * * * * Attachment #5: Edmonton Journal article, Thursday, July 28, 1994 IRWIN'S TRIP TO UN MEET WON'T HELP -- OMINAYAK Don Thomas Journal Staff Writer Little Buffalo Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak believes the federal Indian Affairs minister is in Geneva to counter a UN presentation in support of a land claims settlement for his people. Jennifer Klimek, an Edmonton lawyer and co-chair of the New Democrat- appointed Lubicon Settlement Commission, is presenting the commission's 1993 report today to the UN Indigenous Work Group. That report calls for open negotiations on the Lubicon Cree Nation's land and monetary claim, and for an independent three-person tribunal to assess and rule on the federal and Lubicon positions. Edmonton lawyer Sharon Venne will also make a presentation today on Ominayak's behalf. The chief said Wednesday he spoke with Venne a few hours before they were to make their presentations. Venne told him she and Klimek had both been approached by Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin outside the meeting room in Geneva. Both rebuffed his requests for a meeting, telling him he should be talking with the Lubicons, not to the UN, Ominayak said. "Irwin should be heading up here if he wants to deal with the problem," Ominayak said in an interview at his home late Wednesday. "He doesn't have to fly to Geneva". Irwin met with the Lubicon people here Feb. 18, promising to approach the dispute differently than his Conservative predecessors had. "He told a room full of people that this was a priority and that he was in favor of a process that would lead (to) a fair and just settlement," Ominayak said. "He said as soon as he got a reply, he was going to move." Ominayak didn't hear back from Irwin until July 11, when he received a letter which indicates the Chretien government's approach is much the same as the previous government's. The letter ignores their request for an independent tribunal and calls for a settlement under terms similar to the Conservatives. The federal government has valued its offer at $73 million -- a figure the Lubicons dispute -- plus 246 kilometres of land. The Lubicons want that amount of land, plus community development money at a figure to be set by an independent appraiser, plus $100 million in compensation. Their land claim has been outstanding more than 50 years. * * * * * Attachment #6: Transcript of CKUA Radio News Broadcast (5:15 P.M.) Friday, July 29, 1994 Ken Regan, CKUA News A spokeswoman for a Lubicon Indian support group is accusing Canada's Indian Affairs Minister of trying to undermine the northern Alberta Band. Sharon Venne is in Geneva this week to speak to a United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples. But Federal Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin is also in Geneva and requested a meeting with the Lubicon supporters, prompting some of them to believe Irwin is trying to divert international from their cause. However an official with Indian Affairs here in Alberta says that's simply not the case. CKUA's Daphne Bien reports. Daphne Bien, CKUA News Sharon Venne, an intervenor for the Lubicon Lake Band says the attention of human rights activists from all over the world is focused on the Lubicon land claim issue, but she says the impact the Working Group will have here in Canada depends entirely upon how much the Minister's prepared to move the political agenda. Venne says that Irwin approached her and Jennifer Klimek of the Lubicon Settlement Commission to discuss the issue privately only hours before their presentations. And she says that in light of the fact that the Minister would not meet with the Commission in Canada, his timing causes her to doubt his sincerity. Sharon Venne I think...they were hoping to downplay the presentations that we were making. And what we wanted to avoid -- both Jennifer and myself -- was compromising the position of the Chief and of the Lubicon people. It's (the Lubicons) that they have to talk to, not us. Bien Venne says the international community views the actions of the Canadian Government as being in violation of the human rights of the Lubicon people. Mike Boulaire of the Federal Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development says the Minister went to Geneva as an observer and says the Minister's intentions have nothing to do with undermining the Lubicon position. Mike Boulaire, Federal Department of Indian Affairs I think he feels it's important for him to have a first-hand understanding of the process and the issues of the Working Group. Hence his trip. Bien Boulaire says the Lubicon issue is a priority for the Minister and points out that Irwin has visited Little Buffalo in the past and is willing to do so again. Daphne Bien, CKUA News, Calgary. * * * * * Attachment #6: The Edmonton Journal, July 29, 1994 LUBICONS LECTURE UN ON LONG-DELAYED LAND CLAIMS Don Thomas Journal Staff Writer and The Canadian Press Little Buffalo A United Nations body was urged Thursday to remind the Chretien government about its election promise to speedily resolve the Lubicon Lake Nation's long-delayed land claim. Edmonton lawyer Jennifer Klimek, co-chair of the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review, spoke to the UN's Indigenous Peoples Working Group, a sub-committee of the Commission on Human Rights. The meetings are in Geneva, Switzerland. New hope surged in October when the Liberals took office, considering statements by Prime Minister Jean Chretien while campaigning, she said. In a letter to the review commission, Chretien stated that he considered the Lubicon claim a high priority. He said royalties from traditional Lubicon lands should be held in trust until a settlement is made. He also said that loss of aboriginal rights should not be a condition for a settlement. "Unfortunately, we have to report our very deep disappointment regarding the most recent development of the Liberal Government initiative on this issue." An offer to negotiate contained in a July 11 letter from Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin to Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak is "unacceptable", she said. It opens the way for loss of aboriginal rights and ignores a suggestion to refer disputed matters to an independent tribunal. "We are surprised and dismayed that the new government which had promised so much has delivered so little." Irwin was in Geneva Thursday as an observer at the UN meeting. "I think Canada is more advanced than most of the countries I talked to," he said. "But, in some areas, I've learned a lot which can enhance what we're doing." For instance, he said Australia has a native running its aboriginal affairs department, and its Ulurur National Park is managed in part by natives. "We're looking at co-management of parks in Canada and this would be a tremendous model for us to use," he said. Irwin said self-government is easier among the Inuit, who make up a majority in the Far North, than in southern Canada. The Lubicons are seeking a reserve, funds for new houses and community facilities at a new site on Lubicon Lake, and $100 million in compensation for loss of their traditional lands. The federal government has refused to negotiate their compensation demand.