Date posted/updated: 7 September 2009

Billions of dollars of oil and gas have been removed from the traditional lands of the Indigenous Lubicon Cree in northern Alberta, Canada. However, the Lubicon Cree themselves are living in poverty. Their economy and way of life have been nearly wiped out by the destruction of animal habitat. Basic services, like clean water and sanitation, have never been provided.

The Canadian federal and provincial governments acknowledge the need to negotiate a land settlement with the Lubicon Cree. However, there have been no negotiations since 2003. In the meantime, the provincial government continues to license oil and gas development on Lubicon Cree land.

Please make the following points:

• Note that the United Human Rights bodies have repeatedly express concern over the devastating impacts of industrial development on the fundamental rights of the Lubicon Cree, including their livelihoods, culture and way of life.
• Urge the federal government to return to negotiations with the Lubicon with a clear commitment to finding a just resolution to the land dispute. Such a resolution must fully uphold the rights of the Lubicon Cree under domestic and international law.

Write To:

Office of the Prime Minister of Canada
President and Chief Executive Officer
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A2

Send a short letter using your own words to make the following points:

• Note that United Nations human rights experts have repeatedly expressed concern over the devastating impacts of industrial development on the fundamental rights of the Lubicon Cree, including their livelihoods, culture and way of life.
• Urge the Government of Alberta to agree that - pending final resolution of the Lubicon land dispute - no new development activity should be permitted on Lubicon land except with the agreement of the Lubicon Cree.

Write To:

The Honourable Ed Stelmach
Premier of Alberta
307 Legislature Bldg
10800 - 97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
Canada
T5K 2B6
FAX: (780) 427-1349
Email: premier@gov.ab.ca

You are likely to receive a response when you write to either the federal or provincial governments. If you do, please take the opportunity to write again and let these governments know that there is no excuse for failing to protect and uphold the rights of the Lubicon Cree.

The Lubicon have never agreed to give up any rights to their traditional lands. The federal government has an obligation to help the Lubicon undo the terrible harm that they have suffered because the massive industrial development of their lands. The federal government should negotiate with the Lubicon with the goal of addressing this ongoing injustice. In the meantime, the provincial government should stop making matters worse by licensing development activities over the objections of the Lubicon Cree.

The Lubicon were overlooked when a treaty was negotiated with other Indigenous peoples in the region in 1899. As a result, their legal rights to their land have never been recognized by either level of government. They have no reserve and have been denied any say in the management of their larger traditional territory.

In the 1970s, the Alberta government initiated a program of massive oil and gas development on what it considered to be Crown land. The Lubicon economy, the health of their community, their way of life and their culture itself have been devastated by these developments.

Almost twenty years ago, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) concluded that the scale and pace of development on the Lubicon territory endangered their culture and way of life and would constitute an ongoing violation of the Lubicon's fundamental human rights until such time as the Lubicon and the federal government reached a negotiated settlement.

In 2005, the UNHRC again expressed concern that while negotiations remained unresolved, &rquot;the land of the Band continues to be compromised by logging and large-scale oil and gas extraction.&rquot; The Committee called on Canada to ensure that the Lubicon were adequately consulted &rquot;before granting licences for economic exploitation of the disputed land, and ensure that in no case such exploitation jeopardizes the rights recognized under the Covenant.&rquot; Similar concerns and recommendations were later raised by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

These recommendations by UN treaty bodies demonstrate the urgent need for effective measures to uphold and protect the rights of the Lubicon. While the recommendations of UN treaty bodies are not directly binding on governments, they should be considered highly authoritative interpretations of the binding legal commitments made by Canada when it became a party to the various UN human rights treaties.

The Lubicon are seeking a reserve on a portion of their traditional land, sufficient resources to set up community infrastructure and reestablish a viable economy for future generations, recognition of their right to administer their own government and services on the reserve, and fair compensation for the harms they have suffered.

There have been five rounds of talks between the Lubicon and the federal government since 1986. At several points during these talks, a negotiated settlement appeared to be close at hand. The last round of negotiations broke down in 2003 after federal representatives said they didn't have a mandate to further negotiate long-standing issues of financial compensation and self-government.

Join Lubicon supporters across Canada and around the world demanding justice for the Lubicon Cree. Send us your photo to add to this petition.

1. Download a printable "Justice for the Lubicon Cree" sign

2. Take a photo of yourself or with your friends.

3. Send us the photo by email

Amnesty International will use the photos to send a message to the federal and provincial governments that Canadians expect justice for the Lubicon Cree.