UN asks Ottawa to negotiate with Lubicon Cree, again

A United Nations committee is once again urging the federal government to settle a land claim with the Lubicon Cree of northern Alberta.

The UN made the latest request in a report from the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva. It's the second time the UN has asked Canada to settle the dispute.

• FROM NOV. 2, 2005: UN urges Ottawa to resume talks with Lubicon Cree

• LINK: UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Lubicon, a band of about 500 people in the Peace River region north of Edmonton, have never signed a land-claims settlement with the federal government. Land claim negotiations broke down three years ago prompting the band to send a delegation to Geneva to ask the UN committee for help.

Fred Lennarson, an advisor to the Lubicon First Nation, says he's hoping Canada acts on the UN report, but he says similar reports have not helped the Lubicon cause.

"The problem is that Canada has, in the past, at least so far, misrepresented these decisions to Canadians and misrepresented what was going on in Canada to the United Nations," Lennarson said. "I would hope that this new Harper government would do better than that but that's the sorry history."

Lennarson adds that the latest report doesn't put Canada in a very favourable light.

"Once can only wonder how much it will take before Canada gets the message before the Canadian government gets the message especially when Canada is a country that likes to hold itself up to the world as a leader in the area of human rights."

Lennarson says the report also advises the federal government to consult with the Lubicon before granting licences for any economic activity like oil and gas exploration or forestry.

The committee notes that while most Canadians have a high standard of living, many aboriginal groups continue to struggle.

• INDEPTH: Aboriginal Canadians