Lubicon supporters protest torch run

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Native groups and supporters of the Lubicon Lake Indian band are trying to snuff out the Winter Olympic spirit as the torch relay wends it way across Canada.

A small crowd of protestors was on hand Tuesday in St. John's Nfld., as the Olympic flame began its cross-Canada trip.

"Most people have heard about the Lubicon case but may not know much about it," said Adrian Tanner, who demonstrated on behalf of the Native Peoples' Support Group of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Tanner said his group distributed about 100 pamphlets outlining the Lubicon's band position.

He characterized the outstanding land claim as "a dramatic case of injustice."

"The name of government of Alberta is being dragged through the mud by this campaign, and rightly so," he said in a phone interview from St. John's.

The Lubicon Lake band got another vote of support Tuesday from a Manitoba band which intends to join the torch protest in mid-January.

When the torch arrives at the Manitoba-Ontario border, Peguis band members will follow the relay team by snowmobile to Winnipeg to signal their protest, Chief Louis Stevenson told a news conference in Winnipeg.

The Assembly of First Nations, the umbrella organization representing many of Canada's status Indians, will be meeting in Ottawa when the relay team arrives Dec. 16. An official contacted Tuesday wouldn't indicate if a show of support is planned, however.

The chief and council of the Peigan band ? whose reserve sits on part of the southern Alberta torch route ? have asked for a meeting today with Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak.

In Fort Vermilion, Chief Harvey Bulldog said his Boyer River band has elected to take a neutral stand when the torch relay arrives there in February to coincide with the town's 200th anniversary celebrations.

(Courtesy of The Edmonton Journal)