Lubicon Lake Indian Nation Little Buffalo Lake, AB 403-629-3945 FAX: 403-629-3939 Mailing address: 3536 - 106 Street Edmonton, AB T6J 1A4 403-436-5652 FAX: 403-437-0719 January 28, 1994 Enclosed for your information is a copy of a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien concerning the plight of the Lubicons. The letter is from Mrs. Erica-Irene Daes, Chairperson of the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations. * * * * * January 15, 1994, from Mrs. Erica-Irene Daes, Chairperson of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, Centre for Human Rights, United Nations, CH-1211 GENEVA IO, Switzerland, to Prime Minister Jean Chretien Your Honourable, Please accept out sincere congratulations on the occasion of your recent appointment as Prime Minister of Canada. We would like to draw your attention to the situation of the Lubicon Cree of northern Alberta. As you may know, the Conservative Government of Canada has never honoured the terms of a treaty with the Lubicon Cree. In a letter dated May 27, 1993, you wrote: "As a start, we believe the government should proceed with recommendation #5 of the Settlement Commission of Review report to hold all royalties in trust and withhold leases and permits on traditional Lubicon lands -- unless approved by the Lubicon. Moreover, future negotiations should reflect the intent of recommendation #8, asserting that the extinguishment of Aboriginal Rights must not be a condition for a settlement -- a position consistent with Liberal policy". It is our sincere hope that your Government will give his immediate attention to your party's commitment, to negotiate a settlement with the Lubicon Cree Peoples, a settlement that will be based on the recommendations of the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review. Your Honourable, we are looking forward to a new relationship between the Government of Canada and his Aboriginal Peoples. Yours truly, Mrs. Erica-Irene Daes