Getty offers land, Lubicon cautious

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Following a March 4 meeting in which Alberta Premier Getty offered an interim settlement of 66 square km of reserve land without prejudice to future negotiation for more land, the Lubicons have decided to wait for negotiation structure before considering the offer.

Getty also proposed a tribunal mediating process to monitor progress on negotiation talks and to personally encourage the federal government to move forward toward a settlement.

"The community has not considered the interim settlement, they want to see the negotiation structure first. However, they do favor the tribunal system as suggested by the premier," said Chief Bernard Ominayak.

The Lubicon band wants 235 square km of land for a reserve, based on a present population of 459 members. They also want direct involvement into wildlife and environmental management over 10,000 square km of their traditional hunting area.

The federal and provincial governments have disputed the band figures and recently reached an agreement without Lubicon involvement that would set aside the original size of reserve land promised in 1939.

Getty's tribunal system would allow both the Lubicons and the provincial government to each select their mediator with these two people choosing a third member to form a tribunal.

"The way I understand the premier's offer is that the tribunal would mediate any disagreements between the negotiating parties. But the bottom line is that we have to settle with the federal government before we talk to the provincial government on related matters. The federal government has the sole responsibility to deal with this issue," explained Ominayak.

"We have to keep in mind that this is a proposal that was offered to us after a deal was struck between the federal and provincial governments. We were not involved," he added.

Ominayak was encouraged by the premier's offer to personally intervene with the federal government on the band's claim. "It sure is a nice change from what we've experienced in the past. I think that the premier can do a lot to encourage improvement of the situation," the chief commented.

Meanwhile, Indian Affairs Minister McKnight suggested on March 9, that the Lubicons should quickly respond to the government's interim settlement offer. He repeated the offer to begin building roads, a school and a health center after an agreement of the reserve boundaries is reached.