Unresolved claims

In the wake of Kashechewan, this is definitely the time for First Nations to point out how long some of their ongoing grievances have been ignored. And based on this story, it appears that the federal and Alberta governments both have a lot to answer for with regard to the Lubicon band.

First, the federal government's neglect:

The federal government should make every effort to resume land-claim talks with a northern Alberta Cree community that has been fighting for status for almost 70 years, says a United Nations report.

The UN Human Rights Committee also says the Lubicon band continues to be compromised by logging and large-scale oil and gas extraction...

(Lubicon band counsellor Alphonse) Ominayak said he is pleased the UN committee highlighted the band's concerns about resource development.

"They can't harvest our natural resources and our forests before they settle with us," he said.

"We have never ceded our rights or given anyone any of our natural resources, including oil and gas, in our traditional territory."

Based on the lack of negotiations, it's the federal government that receives the brunt both the U.N. report and Ominayak's comments. But at least the federal government didn't go out of its way to push the band away from a table to which it was invited:

Two energy firms signed an agreement last month with the Lubicon that gives the band a veto over some oil and gas drilling on land it claims.

Key parts of the deal signed by Surge Global Energy and Pan Orient Energy give the Lubicon the power to say no to the use of surface or potable water in the drilling or operation of wells. The band will also have a say in where wells or pipelines will be situated.

The agreement signed by the two companies was reached despite the objections of the province, which urged the firms not to negotiate with the band, the Lubicon say.

It's tough to conclude that the band isn't able to negotiate constructively when it's been able to reach settlements with both the province and the private companies using its historic territory. Which means that the lack of any ongoing negotiations falls squarely on the shoulders of the federal government. But both levels of government deserve blame for trying to prevent the Lubicon from exercising reasonable control over their own land.