Nancy Wilson, Newsworld: Canada’s record on aboriginal issues is about to get a thorough going-over in Geneva. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will hear complaints from Native leaders about land claims disputes and other things. That includes the dispute that exploded last month in Caledonia, Ontario. Doreen Silversmith of the Six Nations Confederacy told the UN Committee about that. Also there’s Alphonse Ominayak, whose delegation addressed the long-standing dispute between the government and the Lubicon Nation. They both join us today from Geneva.

So Doreen, what was the message about Caledonia that you have brought to the UN Committee?

Doreen Silversmith, Six Nations Confederacy: The message was that the government is to deal with the Confederacy and that the Confederacy wants reclamation back for the land. And they should also compensate us.

Wilson: So you wanted to officially extend that message to the UN Committee. What specifically do you want this Committee to do about the situation in Caledonia? Realistically, what could it do?

Silversmith: Well, under Article 1, the Right to Self-Determination, we asked the Committee to draw Canada’s attention to, when the UN does their concluding observations, they bring their attention to what is going on in our territory, corporate Caterpillars going into our territory and causing homelessness as well. We urge the Committee to strongly recommend, as they have in the past, that Canada desist from its practice of allowing private companies to exploit First Nations territory over which the title is in dispute, as it is in Caledonia.

Wilson: Alphonse, I know the Lubicon have been battling the government for what, six decades? Do these complaints to the United Nations about the situation in Canada, do they do anything to help you?

Alphonse Ominayak, Councilor, Lubicon Lake Indian Nation: They do put some pressure on the Canadian government, but so far … we were here last October, which at the time was 15 years since the Committee had passed a resolution to tell the Canadian government to rectify the situation. Sixteen years have passed since and nothing has been done by the Canadian government.

Wilson: That’s interesting in and of itself. You know after the United Nation actually responded to the situation regarding the Lubicon land claim, nothing happened for fifteen years. I do remember actually in 1988 during the Calgary Olympics, there was considerable international attention at that point on the Lubicon land claim dispute. So is it your experience that international attention doesn’t necessarily provide the kind of impetus that you’d like to see to get some government action?

Ominayak: It doesn’t actually rectify the situation but it creates more awareness with the European public. They seem to know more about the Lubicon issue than the Canadians, because of the fact that the Canadian government doesn’t always print the truth.

Wilson: So Doreen, the government is negotiating with the Six Nations Confederacy in Caledonia. Why not wait and see what comes of those negotiations before taking the case to a UN Committee?

Silversmith: Well, you know this has been going on for over 500 years now. We’ve gotten nowhere with the government, because they keep passing the responsibility back and forth, to and fro between the provincial government and the federal government. And I note that it’s 2006, and it’s sort of like the government saying ‘let’s pick on Six Nations now’. So obviously the object is to fully assimilate us to the status quo and eventually destroy us, but like I said they’ve been trying for over 500 years and they have not been successful. We’re not going anywhere soon, we’re not going to lay down and die, you know?

Wilson: We’ll watch your presentations to the UN with interest. I thank you both for being with us today.