Ominayak may demand Mulroney meeting

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The Lubicons may take their land claim dispute straight "to the top" and demand a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Chief Bernard Ominayak said Sunday.

Ominayak spoke to a crowd of about 200 supporters at a Lubicon rally held to close the University of Alberta's ninth annual Third World Film Festival.

"I think Brian Mulroney has a lot to do with this," Ominayak told reporters after his speech. He was referring to the federal government's unwillingness to budge since talks broke off

in January.

"The direction was given to hold things off until the federal election and then beat the Indians back, beat them to the ground, so that they don't create better avenues for other

Aboriginal people to follow (as a precedent).

"If that's the kind of strategy they want to put in place, the pressure has got to go to the top," he vowed.

The Lubicon chief said the high profile given to the Lubicon talks has caused a lot of political heat and embarrassment for the Mulroney government.

Recent comments by government negotiator Ken Colby that the Lubicons are motivated by greed show the government is trying to sway public sentiment through the media,Ominayak said.

"Colby sat through six to eight weeks of negotiation saying absolutely nothing, just keeping the chair warm," he said. "Now, all of a sudden, h claims he's a negotiator."

Ominayak pointed out that Colby is a former public relations spokesman for Norcen Energy Resources Ltd., one of the resource development companies on Lubicon land at Little

Buffalo.

The Lubicon band rejected a $45-million settlement from Ottawa for economic development Jan. 25.

The band is seeking financial compensation for lost programs and benefits since 1899 when Treaty 8 was signed, a sum which could total $167 million.

Compensation is also sought for oil and gas revenues earned from Lubicon land. The band is asking for 10 per cent of the approximately $1 billion Alberta has received in revenues.

Ominayak said the deal had to be rejected because it did not provide for the band's future or assist the Lubicon people, 90 per cent of whom are on welfare rolls.

The band wants additional funds to develop such Lubicon enterprises as a vocational training centre, a cow-calf operation, a saskatoon berry farm, a veterinary clinic, a mini-mall

with an eight-unit motel and wild rice cultivation in three suitable lakes.

The government has offered $5 million and suggested the Lubicon apply to existing government programs for other funding.

Lubicon negotiator Fred Lennarson said a study group, funded by $100,000 from the federal government, has been struck to evaluate the economic viability of the Lubicon's

business proposals.

Lubicon negotiators will meet with the province Thursday to hammer out a deal on compensation for oil and gas royalties, Ominayak said.