RESOLUTION NO. 1998-08-27
SUBJECT: I M P E N D I N G DEVELOPMENT OF MUSHKEGOWUK LANDS
WHEREAS present government policies, and in particular the policies of the provincial government, are geared as never before to promote the "development" of northern lands, including Mushkegowuk territory;
AND WHEREAS the present provincial "Lands for Life" land use planning process is apparently intended to lead to a great increase in mining, forestry, hydro development, tourism and other "development" on such lands;
AND WHEREAS this development planning is being carried out with little respect for the land use rights and jurisdiction of the First Nation peoples and governments of Mushkegowuk Council, which rights arise from the Creator who placed us here, and from our possession of the land since time immemorial, and from our Treaty with the federal and provincial governments, and from the laws and Constitution of Canada, as set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v Delgamuukw and elsewhere;
AND WHEREAS policies such as those set out in Condition 77 of the Environmental Assessment Board
decision on Class Environmental Assessment of Crown Timber Management, which requires more equal benefits to Aboriginal peoples from Crown timber management, begin in a small way to recognize the needs of Aboriginal peoples, but are also totally inadequate to uphold, and in fact ignore, the real and fundamental legal and Constitutional rights of the Mushkegowuk people;
AND WHEREAS the intended imminent and reckless development of our lands by others, in contempt of our and Canadian laws, will change forever our lands and our way of life, contrary to our most fundamental desires;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Mushkegowuk Chiefs in Assembly declare the provincial Lands for Life process to be without political or legal legitimacy because of its disregard for the critical legal, Treaty and Constitutional rights of the Mushkegowuk people;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mushkegowuk Chiefs in Assembly declare the urgent necessity and our full determination to assert and defend the lands, forests and waters of the Mushkegowuk territory as our true and permanent home, and to ensure that any development is compatible with our control, our rights and our reality.
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