Innu unhappy with relocation offer

Page 2

The Labrador Innu are disappointed with Ottawa's most recent offer to relocate the community of Davis Inlet.

Innu Nation president Peter Penashue and Davis Inlet Chief Katie Rich said they were not completely happy with Ottawa's response to their demands to move the beleaguered community to a new site.

"We have sent a letter to the minister clearly setting out our concerns with the document," Penashue said. "But even with our differences, we still want to get on with the work."

Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin's Feb. 25 counter-proposal to the Innu's own relocation plan failed to address some of the Natives' concerns, Penashue said.

The Natives are primarily concerned with Ottawa's reluctance to accept the Innu's comprehensive community plan prior to moving the village.

"The human rights commission was quite clear that it should be an Innu decision, that past relocation decisions by government have been disastrous to our people," Rich said.

"So we are disappointed that Canada is insisting on something the Canadian Human Rights Commission was quite clear should not happen."

The federal government agreed to move the community of 550 Innu 15 kilometres east to a new location at Sango Bay Pond after several conditions.

The Innu must agree to adopt a long-term social and economic reconstruction plan and prove that Sango Bay will provide sufficient fresh water.

The land must be environmentally assessed and approved for the village, construction must meet with federal and provincial standards and Newfoundland must agree to provide the land.

Ottawa also wants to ensure that the move meets the needs of the Innu and will insure that the problems of rampant alcoholism, solvent abuse and violence are not simply transferred to the new site.