Government set to deal with Cold Lake

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What makes up for 10 years of corrosion? Representatives of Cold Lake First Nations need that answer before sitting down with Ottawa to finally hammer out a resolutions to grievances stemming from the formation of the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range in 1952.

Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Ron Irwin announced on March 1 that the Canadian government would once and for all try to undo the wrongs it unleashed on the Dene and Cree people of northeastern Alberta and north-western Saskatchewan after all hunting, fishing and trapping on the 6,000-square-kilometre bombing range was brought to a halt in 1954.

Indian Affairs first rejected a claim filed by CLFN in 1972. In 1989, the band council of the day filed a $30-million law suit in federal court against Ottawa. When attempts to negotiate after that hit brick walls, both reserves requested the opportunity to share the story of their loss of self-sufficiency and livelihood with the Indian Claims Commission, which was formed by Ottawa after the 1991 Oka crisis.

The Commission's inquiry, which included a series of public hearings at both reserves in 1992 and 1993, led to a report which found that Canada acted unilaterally and in violation of treaty Six by dispossessing the lands inside the bombing range. In a sense, the commission's historical report confirmed the validity of the grievances.

After the range was formed and the land around Primrose Lake was abandoned, three payments totalling about $540,700 were made to CLFN to cover lost equipment and income. The last payment of $169,725 came in 1960.

During the public hearings at CLFN in 1993, Elders told the commission that life had deteriorated to such a level by then that "quit claims", relieving the Department of National Defense from any further financial obligation, were signed in duress. Some of the 37 Elders who spoke said people were told that the last cheques would be delayed if the quit claims weren't signed.

Chief of CLFN Francis Scanie, one of the Elders who testified in 1993, was tight-lipped last week, saying details about how negotiations will be carried out aren't known yet.

He wouldn't comment on what's to come or what the 500 people living on the reserve feel would be fair compensation. Comments shouldn't be made to the media before the band enters into negotiations, he said.

Dene historian John Janvier, who also testified in 1993, describing what life was like before and after the bombing, range was formed, hopes Ottawa is sincere.

"I hope they're true to their words and not simply justifying the Indian Claims Commission's work with lip service," Janvier said last week.

Allen Jacob, who presented the taped memoirs of his 103-year-old great-grandmother Rosalie Andrew as evidence to the commission, doesn't think another round of talks over the land his people once thrived on is cause for celebration.

"This really isn't a happy time for many people here. Don't presume that dollars make the difference," Jacob said.

Andrews saw the area around Primrose Lake in a spiritual way that went beyond simply providing for her family.