As part of the Year III Jubilee focus on Renewal of the Earth, the Land Rights Campaign seeks to Right Relationships with Aboriginal Peoples through two key action components:

• Land Rights, Right Relations: A campaign running through September 2001 which includes a petition that joins with the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the UN Human Rights Committee in calling on the federal government to act immediately to establish an independent commission with the mandate to implement Canadian Aboriginal land, treaty and inherent rights. 

• Global Action on Respecting the Land and its Peoples: An action in the fall of 2000 calling upon the Canadian government to effectively regulate Canadian corporations and the Export Development Corporation in their activities both here and abroad so that they comply with human rights agreements including those with Aboriginal peoples, uphold environmental standards, and undertake genuine consultation.

Contents of other Parts of this Section 

• Aboriginal Land Rights Petition and Backgrounder: On-line and Printable Versions

• Declarations and Letters: Documents for in-depth information and reflection (including letters written by CEJI and the Churches)

• Blanket Train: A cross-country action to highlight and publicize the petition campaign culminating in an event at the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa on 21 June 2001.

• Worship Service on Right Relations with Aboriginal Peoples - see also the Blanket Train worship service

• Related Publications: Campaign Materials and Educational Resources

• Related Links and Articles on Aboriginal Rights and Global Land Issues

• See also the Introduction in the Year III Leadership Guide, a Thematic Overview presented at the Year III Leadership Training Workshop, and the Renewal of the Earth section of the Vision Statement.

For Aboriginal peoples, land is a gift from the Creator and central to their lives. It belongs to everyone and to future generations. The current social and economic problems facing Aboriginal peoples stem from government and corporate policies and practices which dispossessed Aboriginal peoples of their ancestral lands and rights...

Land Rights, Right Relations
Jubilee Petition on Aboriginal Land Rights

...To reverse this process and restore the health of Aboriginal communities, changes must be made in the way Aboriginal land settlements are reached so that Aboriginal peoples will have the means to preserve their cultures and languages, and rebuild and maintain their societies.

On November 21, 1996 the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples released a report which, among other things, stated that land settlements must provide Aboriginal peoples with lands that are sufficient in size and quality to foster Aboriginal economic self-reliance and cultural and political autonomy. The Commission stressed the need for a re-balancing of the political and economic power between Aboriginal peoples and Canadian governments, including a fundamental re-allocation of lands and resources. Failure to take these bold and necessary steps, warned the Commission, means preserving the status quo. This education campaign joins with the Royal Commission and the UN Human Rights Committee in calling on the federal government to act immediately to establish an independent commission with the mandate to implement Canadian Aboriginal land, treaty and inherent rights.

According to the Jubilee texts in the Hebrew scriptures, Jubilee includes restoration of ancestral lands to those from whom land had been taken in a previous generation. The Jubilee Land Rights, Right Relations petition calls for a renewed process to deal with land settlements, one that will, by recognizing and implementing Aboriginal peoples’ rights, lead to a country where everyone shares and benefits equally from the land and its resources.

Go here for the Land Rights, Right Relations backgrounder and petition (including downloadable versions) – an information brochure outlining the need for an Aboriginal Land and Treaties commission, together with a petition calling on the federal government to establish an independent commission with the mandate to implement Aboriginal land, treaty and inherent rights.

» Go here for information about Jubilee/ARC Land Rights Campaign Training Workshops

» See also the Call to Reflection and Letter of Canadian Church Leaders on this campaign

Global Action on Respecting the Land and Its Peoples
Regulating Canadian Corporations and the Export Development Corporation

...Around the world the traditional lands of Aboriginal peoples are being exploited for resources, and polluted by industrial wastes. In some cases the people are being displaced, their health is at risk, and their spiritual and cultural connections to their land are under threat. This is the case with the Embera Katio in Colombia (see a related urgent action here), the Nuer in Sudan, and the people of Mararanduque, Philippines, who struggle to maintain their land rights, livelihoods, and cultural identities in the face of corporate intrusion, facilitated by Canada’s Export Development Corporation.

The EDC, a crown corporation, uses Canadian tax dollars to finance exports and provide risk insurance for overseas investments by Canadian corporations. In this way, the EDC supports large infrastructure projects such as dams and highways, or mining projects. Some EDC investments have been linked to environmental destruction of the lands of indigenous peoples, and the displacement of indigenous peoples. However, the EDC is not currently covered by the Access to Information Act, and is not required to conduct environmental and social impact assessments before becoming involved in projects. Canada’s Export Development Act, which governs the EDC, is under legislative review in Fall 2000.

According to the Jubilee texts in the Hebrew scriptures, Jubilee includes restoration of ancestral lands to those from whom land had been taken in a previous generation. The Jubilee Respecting the Land and its Peoples action calls on the Canadian government to make the EDC more accountable and transparent, and to protect the land and the rights of indigenous peoples around the world.

To participate in this campaign, you will need the Respecting the Land and its Peoples information brochure and action letter, which are available in bundles of 25 for $5.00.

You may also wish to order the Sacred Land, Scarred Land video, which illustrates the impact of Canadian corporate activities on Aboriginal peoples around the world and in Canada. The cost is $10.00.

Further educational resources are available in the Jubilee Year 3 Leadership Guide, Restoring Right Relations, at a cost of $6.00.

» See also Update on Global Land Rights Campaign (22 March 2001)

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