Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
18 Tuesday June 16 2015 POLITICS FIRST NATIONS WORKING TOGETHER TO BUILD A BRIGHT NORTHERN FUTURE Serving Canadas North for more than 100 years. For nearly 30 years Denendeh Investments Inc. representing the 27 Dene First Nations in the Northwest Territories has been a partner in Northland Utilities serving electricity customers across the territory. Northland Utilities is a true partnership that has stood the test of time and represents meaningful aboriginal participation in the NWT economy. Celebrating National Aboriginal Day June 21 872-2001 82 Breynat St Fort Smith NT Making money make sense for you. Lub icon sees small court victory against oil company B y M E AG AN W O H L B E R G The Lubicon Lake Cree Nation of Little Buf- falo in northern Alberta won an early victory in its anti-fracking case against P enn West P etroleum this month. The First Nation brought suit against the oil and gas company in December 20 1 3 after members discovered the company bringing equipment and workers onto their asserted traditional territory without consulting. At a trial in March P ennWest tried to have the case thrown out of court saying it amounted to an abuse of process and dupli- cated another suit brought by the Lubicon against Canada and the province of Alberta. But Alberta Q ueens Bench Justice Simp- son rejected the application to strike on June 5 saying it was neither a duplicative action nor an abuse of process. Furthermoresheaffirmedthatprivatecom- panies can be held liable for offences against First Nations prior to formal declarations of Aboriginal title by the Crown or courts. The suit arises due to divisions among the membership of the Lubicon Cree. While the Lubicon Lake Nation led by Chief Bernard O minayak claims to be the traditional gov- ernment there is also a federally recognized chief and council headed by Chief Billy-Joe Laboucan. According to P enn West the company con- sulted with Laboucan and the Lubicon band. Members of the Lubicon Nation said the court victory affirms O minayaks leadership and their position that the Lubicon never entered into treaty with the Crown prior to developing on Lubicon lands making the leases issued to P ennWest null and void. This affirmation supports the position of the Lubicon Lake Nation that recognition or non-recognition of Chief O minayak and the council by Canadas department of In- dian Affairs has no effect on the reality of their authority and amounts to a communi- cations plan designed to avoid meaningful consultation and engagement with the right- ful Lubicon government and its citizens councillor Dwight Gladue said in a news re- lease last week. Though the nation noted Simpson had or- deredamendmentstotheLubiconpleadingsit said those changes wouldnt affect the nature of the actions sought by the Lubicon which revolve around damages to their lands and way of life in relation to oil and gas activity. The suit states that oil and gas development has caused irreparable harm to the Lubicons ability to ex ercise their inherent Aboriginal rights and demands an injunction halting work until issues are resolved. The First Nation is concerned about the impacts of fracking on its water. The P enn West site sits near two bodies of water con- sidered to be Little Buffalos main source of fish. We are very pleased with this decision as it means that we can continue our action in the courts against P ennWest and one day see justice for the damages this company has caused to our lands our people and our way of life O minayak concluded.PhotoMeaganWohlberg L ub icon L ake Nation drummers march during the 2013 Tar S ands H ealing W alk. his a firmation s pports the position of the Lub icon Lake N ation that recogni- tion or non-recognition of Chief O minayak and the council b y Canadas de- partment of I ndian Affairs has no effect on the real- ity of their authority. Counc i l l or D w i ght G l adue Lubi c on Lak e Nati on