And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (S.I.S.I.S.) writes:
1. Natives seek prairie reesources
2. Aboriginals step up demands for resourse revenue from Crown land
[S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news articles may contain
biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or
context. They are provided for reference only.]
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NATIVES SEEK PRAIRIE RESOURCES
Connie Watson reports for CBC radio, WebPosted Tue Mar 2 21:35:10 1999
CALGARY - First Nations across the prairies want a share of the
provinces' natural resources. And they're considering going to court to get
it.
Ottawa handed control of the resources over to the prairie provinces in
the 1930s. Native leaders say that breached the government's responsibility
to native people.
And now more than ever it's time to do something about it says the chief
of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. Perry Bellegarde told
leaders of Alberta's oil and gas industry there is a sense of urgency
because native people, on and off reserve, are living in hopeless
conditions. They get no benefits from the lucrative resources of their
traditional lands, he says. "It's our young children that we see that are
on the streets of the cities. It's the 80 per cent unemployment rates in
our communities. It's the overcrowding in our houses. It's the jails that
are filled with our people because they don't have any hope or access to
jobs. So all of those are push factors, so let's get this done. Let's move,
now."
Premier Ralph Klein's government is trying to mediate a growing dispute
in the north. Bands are demanding jobs and access fees in order to let oil
and forestry companies on what they consider their traditional lands. Klein
says it's provincial property. "We also don't like to see obstruction when
in fact there is a legal right for a company, be it a forestry company or
an oil and gas company, to go on those lands," Klein says.
Bellegarde says native leaders are looking at four options to get a
piece of revenue from the land:
* a court case against the federal government for signing over control of
the resources
* a lawsuit claiming damages for a portion of those resources
* negotiations with governments and industry
* an international campaign through the UN to push for indigenous rights
Next week, leaders from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will meet to
work out their strategy.
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ABORIGINALS STEP UP DEMANDS FOR RESOURCE REVENUE FROM CROWN LAND
Canadian Press, March 7, 1999 by Bob Weber
EDMONTON -- Aboriginal leaders are broadening their demands for a share of
the billions of dollars that Prairie governments reap from all forestry,
energy and mining on Crown land.
"Basically, all the resources that are in the three Prairie provinces, we
say as indigenous peoples that those resources weren't on the table at
treaty signing," said Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Federation of
Saskatchewan Indian Nations. "We're looking at resource revenue sharing,
resource benefit sharing and access to some of the jobs and economic
development spinoffs from it."
Bellegarde will attend a meeting in Edmonton on Wednesday to discuss a
united bargaining front with the Indian Association of Alberta and Grand
Chief Rod Bushie from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. The meeting comes
after reports that some oilpatch firms in northern Alberta have already
paid access fees to several area bands to get onto land near reserves.
Other agreements involving the oilpatch, Crown land and native bands may be
near.
"We're into some sensitive negotiations right now," said Jeff Chalifoux of
the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council, which represents three bands in
Alberta's Lesser Slave Lake region. Alberta's ministers responsible for
energy, environment and aboriginal affairs are expected to reopen talks
with energy firms and Kee Tas Kee Now. "They will be held soon," said
aboriginal affairs spokesman David May.
Meanwhile, the governments of the three Prairie provinces have already
begun considering a common front of their own, said Ernie Lawton of
Saskatchewan's Department of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs.
"It's premature to say there is a common plan but I think everyone agrees
there is a need for consistency," he said.
The bands argue that mineral and resource rights weren't signed away in
the treaties because the chiefs who negotiated them in the late 1800's
didn't understand the concept. They also say that the federal government,
which is responsible for aboriginals, had no right to transfer control of
natural resources to the provinces in 1930 without consulting native
people.
"Elders have said that they (the negotiators) did not understand what they
were surrendering," said Nigel Banks, a professor at the University of
Calgary who specializes in resource law. "The snag the First Nations face
is that in the explicit language of the treaties there is a surrendering of
title. "The issue is, what did the parties really mean?"
Both Saskatchewan and Alberta maintain they have exclusive jurisdiction
over Crown lands. "First Nations have no right to demand access fees on
provincial Crown lands," said May.
The Saskatchewan government prefers aboriginals to benefit from resource
development through service contracts or training and employment contracts.
British Columbia already has an access fee agreement. It details fees that
companies must pay five northeastern bands for seismic work, well
construction, pipelines and gas plants on Crown land near their reserves.
Bellegarde has said legal action may be necessary to resolve the dispute.
And Banks points out the Supreme Court has already ruled that any ambiguity
in interpreting treaties must be settled in favour of aboriginals.
The whole issue makes the resource industry nervous. It's the Alberta
government's responsibility to settle the issue, said Larry Skory of the
Alberta Forest Products Association, who adds his industry would be willing
to negotiate with the government and aboriginal leaders.
Bellegarde has made his case before the Canadian Association of Petroleum
Producers, which has said it feels caught in the middle. Doug Anguish of
Renaissance Energy, which operates in the Lesser Slave Lake region, said
his company has signed an agreement with the Kee Tas Kee Now bands on how
they will be consulted on future development near their reserve. But any
cash exchanged is strictly for services rendered, he said. That may change
if Bushie has his way. "The land is rightly ours," he said. "Seven billion
dollars the Manitoba government takes from natural resources -- our
resources."
A few facts on the issue of aboriginal revenue
- Alberta's 1998 take from oil royalties and exploration rights: $1.2 billion.
- Saskatchewan's 1998 potash royalties: $113.5 million.
- Amount each of five B.C. bands will receive yearly to research
development proposals on adjacent Crown land: $235,675.
- Fee B.C. energy companies will pay to build well: $3,000 to establish,
$1,000 per year thereafter.
- To build new pipeline: B.C. aboriginals get $200 per hectare, $100 per
hectare per year thereafter.
- To build compressor stations: B.C. aboriginals get $10,000 per gas plant,
$1,000 per year thereafter.
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SOVEREIGNTY IS THE ANSWER - CANADA IS THE PROBLEM
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed
a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only.
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S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty
P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2
EMAIL : <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html
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