Lubicon land claim gets gov't negotiator

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The Lubicon Lake land claim has been brought closer to home with the appointment of a Calgary lawyer as federal negotiator with the northern Cree band.

After making the announcement during a Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon Monday Oct. 5, Minister of Indian Affairs Bill McKnight said the decision to appoint Calgary lawyer, Brian Malone as negotiator was not in reaction to the Lubicon Lake band's boycott campaign against the Calgary winter Olympic Games and the Glenbow Museum's Spirit Sings exhibition of Native artifacts.

"It has absolutely nothing to do with the games," said McKnight to reporters adding that Ottawa has been willing to negotiate with the band for years.

McKnight also promised the independent report by E. Davie Fulton, a former federal cabinet minister would be used in negotiation. However, he dodged reporters questions on when the report would be released to the public saying the media "had already seen it."

The Calgary Herald recently obtained a copy of the report, however, the report has not been officially released. The report states that the band has about 400 members, but the federal government has insisted that there are only about 200 members based on the number of registered status Indians.

The McKnight announcement was made after members of the media were informed that the name of the new negotiator would be released during the luncheon. However, Chief Bernard of the Lubicon Lake band says he was not informed.

"If they were serious in resuming negotiations, it seems to me that they would at least tell us they would be making an announcement," said the chief.

The minister, who is also head of the Western Diversification program, stated during his speech that his government was aware of the Lubicon's plight and in an effort to "resolve the issue" had appointed a new negotiator. However, the majority of his address was dedicated to the diversification scheme and included a question and answer session with Calgary businessmen.

The Lubicon Lake land claim has been going on for nearly 50 years. The band has asked for a 233-square-kilometer reserve based on the treaty formula of 50 hectares of reserve land for each member. But Alberta says the land should be granted only on the band membership in 1940 when negotiations for a reserve began. As there were only 127 band members in 1940 Alberta says it is only willing to give the band 65 square-kilometers.

Negotiations with the band were broken off in July 1986 over a dispute over the number of band members. Since then the band has continued legal action against the federal and provincial governments.

The band also approached the United Nations over its claim that the government was committing genocide against the small Cree band.

In support of their land claim, the band has also called for a boycott of the Olympic winter games and the Glenbow exhibition which is scheduled to run during the festivities.

Lawyer Brian Malone was unavailable for comment, however, a meeting between him and Lubicon lawyer, James O'Reilly is scheduled for this weekend.