CUMBERLAND HOUSE CREE Nation says that the provincial government is not protecting the Saskatchewan River system, and now is time to take the province to court.
The lawyers of the first nation in the Northeast of Saskatchewan filed a statement declaration on Tuesday at the King Saskatoon court bank, claiming that the Government has failed to maintain its obligations of the treaty. Name the Saskatchewan government as accused.
During generations, the people of Cumberland House Cree Nation have depended on the Delta of the Saskatchewan River, the Delta del Río de Agua’s largest in North America, which extends 9,700 square kilometers of the northeast of Saskatchewan to the west of Manitoba, says the demand.
But the activities approved by the upstream government, such as prey, irrigation and industrial and urban uses, have drastically reduced the amount of water that reaches the delta, continually degrading the ecosystem, says the demand.
That has affected the ability of people there to exercise their rights of treaty to maintain their way of life, said the head of the Nation of Cumberland House CREE, Rene Chaboyer, at a press conference on Tuesday in Saskatoon.
“We believe that our hand is forced to … advance to the Court of Justice to seek justice, and today is a very important day in the history of our community, our province, in our country.”
He and other members of the community talked about how Delta has changed during their lives: water is no longer safe to drink, fish species have disappeared, the alces are migrating elsewhere, birds are changing their migration patterns and musk youngerness are difficult to find, they said.
“In the past, I was healthy … today,” Chaboyer said.
Treaty rights
Treaty 5 covers an area of approximately 260,000 square kilometers in parts of what are now Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It was signed in 1875, with the ancestors of Cumberland House signing in 1876.
The inhabitants agreed to share their lands with the newcomers in exchange for promises, including that Cumberland House would be free to continue hunting, fishing, catching and harvesting in the territory of the treaty, says the demand.
“The treaties are the ones that allowed the newcomers to come and establish themselves in Saskatchewan, and the treaties were only made due to that promise that Cumberland House Cree Nation could continue to maintain their way of life,” said Tim Dickson, the lawyer of the first nation, at the press conference on Tuesday.
“That promise of the treaty is part of the foundation of Canada and the Canadian Law. It is protected by the Canadian Constitution and is enforceable in the Court.”
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The first nations and Ambanist groups warn the agricultural irrigation plan of $ 4 billion of $ 4 billion threatens the diverse ecosystem of the Saskatchewan River Delta, the largest inner river delta in North America.
The Saskatchewan river delta is the homeland of the first nation and “essential” for its culture and identity, Dickson said.
When comments were requested, a spokesman for the Saskatchewan government said that the claim statement had not yet been delivered in the province “and, therefore, we will not.”
Continuous degradation
The upstream activities, including hydroelectric dams, water diversion and water removal for irrigation, industrial uses and drinking water, have hungry for the delta of their vital sediment and contaminated the water, Cumberland House is discussing in its demand.
The proposed construction of the $ 1.15 billion of Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation Megaproject, which the government has committed to start this year, is also considered “a very serious threat,” Dickson said.
Cumberland House has tried to interact with the province in the project, but “there has been very little government commitment,” Dickson said.
Instead, residents have observed that, year after year, the Delta degrades.
The loss of the delta would feel not only because of the people who live there, but for all, said Cumberland House Cree Nation Coun. Beverly Goulet.
At the end of Tuesday’s press conference, he answered a question that a journalist previously made about how much compensation was looking for the community.
“Instead of worrying about money, because we can’t certainly take it with us when we pass … Remember the children,” Goulet said.
“That is what we want to protect, because we have done enough damage to this planet. As, what are they going to have? What have we done?
“Then, let’s think about that.”
