Posted: Thursday, 25 March 2010

“Twenty years is too long to wait for justice” said Hassan Yussuff, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Twenty years ago, on 26 March 1990, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) ruled that Canada had violated the human rights of the Lubicon Cree, an Indigenous People in the province of Alberta.

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has been a long supporter of the Lubicon’s struggle for justice.

On the 20th anniversary of this important ruling, Hassan Yussuff stated, “we should see a federal government prepared to take the long overdue steps needed to recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the management of their land and resources.”

Canadians are all too familiar with the pattern of promises being made with Aboriginal communities. June 11, 2009 comes to mind when the federal government formally apologized to the residential school system survivors and promised a new path would follow. Yet, economic justice, educational opportunities, health and basic services like water systems and housing, remain dismally unequal for Aboriginal communities. Similarly, current promises to respect indigenous land and resources rights are disingenuous when almost 70% of Lubicon territory has been leased for non-renewable resource extraction.

“After two decades, promises continue to be made and later broken. The time is long overdue for governments to recognize indigenous rights in practice and not just for political opportunism,” said Hassan Yussuff.

The CLC joins with Amnesty International today in the release of a joint statement to mark this day and we applaud the work of the Aboriginal youth who are present today at the UN to draw attention to this fundamental human rights issue.