Third party manager continues at Lubicon Lake

Until the governance issue is settled on the Lubicon Lake Cree First Nation there will be no moving ahead with the land claims issue.

“The land claim is on the back burner. It’s hard to proceed with a land claim when you don’t have a duly recognized chief and council,” said Glenn Luff, spokesman for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Alberta regional office.

Luff said offers by the department for mediation services have been rebuffed by both Bernard Ominayak and Steve Noskey. Both men claim to have won legitimate elections and to be chief of the Lubicon Lake.

The accounting firm of Meyers Norris Penny will continue as third party manager of the First Nation, distributing INAC’s funding of $2.5 million annually. The initial appointment of the firm was to carry through until March 31, 2010, but it’s now a “fairly open-ended contract. There’s no imminent resolution to the governance dispute,” said Luff.

Lubicon Lake First Nation carries out its election according to its custom code, which limits the role the federal government can play if a dispute arises. Just over half of Canada’s 615 First Nations have custom elections.
The status of Lubicon Lake First Nation’s government has been unclear for a year. An election held June 5, 2009, saw Noskey acclaimed as chief. However, those results were declared invalid by supporters of incumbent Chief Bernard Ominayak, who called an election June 25, 2009, in which he was acclaimed in his position. In an earlier interview with Sweetgrass, Ominayak said he was asked by the Elder council to take on the position of chief for life and accepted the offer.

But with Ominayak’s election, Noskey didn’t step down.  Both men and their supporters are claiming that they are the legitimate leaders of the First Nation.

After looking at the results from both elections and the reports filed by the respective electoral officers, the Department of Justice declared that the Lubicon Lake First Nation did not follow its own code in either election.

Luff said all indications are that “things are getting done” through the third party manager. “The general sense I’ve got is that (delivery of services) has improved.”