MAKE YOUR OWN SALAD DRESSING Life & Food/A7
Toll climbs
Start young
In control
Pittsburgh pushes
Philadelphia to brink
Now more than 12,000
feared dead in China
Program aims to teach
infants empathy
Sports/B1
Local/A3
100th YEAR NO. 114
World/B10
A5
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008
94¢ + GST
Land claim worth $500B
GIVE YOUR INPUT
The Sudbury Soils Study’s
technical committee has
announced the results of its
study. Public sessions on
the report will be held:
➤ Today at 3 p.m. and 8
p.m. at the Italian Club in
Copper Cliff;
➤ Thursday at 3 p.m. and 8
p.m. at the Recreation and
Wellness Centre in Falconbridge;
➤ For more information, visit
www.sudburysoilsstudy.com.
Whitefish Lake First Nation says Crown breached 1850 treaty
BY LAURA STRADIOTTO
The Sudbury Star
In one of the largest land
claims in Canadian history,
Whitefish Lake First Nation is
seeking $550 billion from the
federal and provincial governments for the loss of land and
profits from natural resources.
The land in question
encompasses about 250,000
acres, including a significant
amount of Crown land as
well as the entire City of
Greater Sudbury and outside
municipalities such as Nairn
Centre, parts of Killarney and
French River.
“The claim is about compensation for financial losses
and for losses of land and loss
of the ability to control what
takes place on the land,” said
Aaron Detlor, a Toronto
lawyer specializing in First
Nation law who is representing the First Nation community.
“It’s not about displacing
anyone or asking the government to expropriate anything
from anyone. I think here
we’ve got a positive history of
good relationships between
all the different communities
in the Sudbury region.”
The community “wants to
see that maintained and
strengthened,” he said.
Whitefish Lake
Indian Reserve
boundary claim
Capreol
144
Onaping
Dowling
dary
oun
im b
Sudbury
a
nd cl
La
Markstay
144
17
537
BY RACHEL PUNCH
The Sudbury Star
Nairn
17
Whitefish
Lake Indian
Reserve
Espanola
6
637
Killarney
Provincial Park
Land c
laim b
ounda
CMYK
Alban
ry
69
French River
Provincial Park
SHERRI BASSETT/THE SUDBURY STAR
Some not
convinced
by report
“It’s not about
displacing anyone or
asking the
government to
expropriate anything
from anyone. I think
here we’ve got a
positive history of
good relationships
between all the
different
communities in the
Sudbury region.”
BY RACHEL PUNCH
The Sudbury Star
Arthur Petahtegoose, chief of
Whitefish Lake First Nation
LAURA STRADIOTTO/THE SUDBURY STAR
Chief Arthur Petahtegoose (left) of Whitefish Lake First Nation, lawyer Aaron Detlor and
deputy chief Theresa Migwans of Whitefish Lake First Nation address media at a press conference to announce the aboriginal community launched a land claim worth $550 billion
against the Ontario and Canadian governments
local industry and business.
Detlor calls the $550 billion
a conservative estimate given
the mining industry’s $1 trillion impact originating from
Index
the Sudbury basin and from
land that once belonged to
Whitefish Lake.
Compensation
being
sought relates to tourism rev-
Weather Forecast
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A12
B8-B10
B6
A2-A4
A7
A4
A mammoth study examining the effect metals in
Sudbury’s environment have
on human health shows
slightly elevated levels of
lead on a handful of properties and some risks associated with nickel in the air.
The risks, however, are
minimal and the seven-year,
$10-million study shows
metals in the environment
pose little risk.
“There is clearly no dark
cloud hanging over Sudbury’s
health based on the current
levels of the six metal contaminants measured in our
environment in this study,”
said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, medical officer of health.
See SOILS / A4
Estaire
The band’s lawyer
calls the $550B a
conservative estimate,
given the mining
industry’s $1 trillion
impact originating
from the Sudbury
basin and from land
that once belonged
to Whitefish Lake.
BUSINESS
CANADA
CLASSIFIEDS
COMICS/CROSSWORD
GREATER SUDBURY
LIFE & FOOD
LOTTERY NUMBERS
Soils study
finds no
major risk
to health
Skead
Killarney
In 1850, Whitefish Lake
First Nation, also known as
the Atikameksheng Anishnabek reservation, entered into
the Robinson Huron Treaty
with the Crown to set aside a
reservation that is more than
five times larger than the current reservation that was set
aside in 1885.
Today, Whitefish Lake is
located
southwest
of
Greater Sudbury. It has a
population of 350 people
living on and 500 who live
off the reserve.
The community claims the
Crown failed to honour the
terms of the 1850 treaty and
is seeking financial compensation, as well trying to
reclaim the land it lost.
The aboriginal community
is trying to identify pieces of
Crown land that could be
returned to them and in the
process are consulting with
Wanapitei
Lake
MOVIE LISTINGS
OBITUARIES
OPINION/LETTERS
ONTARIO
SPORTS
TV LISTINGS
WORLD
B7
A9
A10, A11
A6
B1-B4
B7
B10
Today: Rain
High: 14
Low: 2
Tomorrow: Sunny
High: 15
Low: 5
Friday: Cloudy, showers
High: 16
Low: 5
Weather map on Page B4
enues, industrial and commercial development, residential
development and in relation
to resource extraction including, but not limited to, tim-
ber, minerals and aggregate.
In a press conference held
Tuesday, the chief of Whitefish Lake said he doesn’t like
using the term “launching a
claim” because the land “has
always been ours.”
Arthur Petahtegoose said
the legal process is a way to
remind the Ontario and
Canadian governments of
their obligation to the First
Nation people.
See CLAIM / A4
When Tanya Ball spends
time outdoors in Sudbury
with her two-year-old, what
she sees in the environment
often concerns her.
Walking over fluorescent
orange ground or on black
rock causes her to wonder
what the effect more than a
century of
mining in
the city will
have on her
child’s
health.
Ball was
one of about
half a dozen
residents
who raised Ball
concerns
about
a
report painting a positive
picture of the health of Sudburians released at a public
information session at Science North on Tuesday.
See REACTION / A4
Quote of the day
Smile of the day
“NAFTA has put food on the table
for literally thousands of Americans
and Canadians.”
Don’t you hate it
when they say you can’t do
something and then find out
they were right?
— David Wilkins, U.S. ambassador
to Canada, during a visit to Sudbury
on Tuesday / A3
Sherri :)
Send your Smile to
[email protected]
thesudburystar.com
m.thesudburystar.com