SmartVote: Layton supports “a just resolution” for Sayisi Dene’s mistreatment

Media Release
For Immediate Release
April 28, 2011

Layton supports “a just resolution” for Sayisi Dene’s mistreatment

(Winnipeg) The federal leader of the NDP, Jack Layton, has committed himself and his party to assisting the “just resolution” of the claim filed by the Sayisi Dene First Nation of northern Manitoba.

In a letter to Chief Jimmy Thorassie today, April 28, 2011, Mr. Layton writes:

I know that Niki Ashton, your MP, has been pressing the government in this regard and has also brought it to my attention.

May I assure you that, following the election, you can count on both Ms. Ashton and myself to support a just resolution of your cause.

Chief Thorassie wrote to the Prime Minister and other party leaders on April 21, 2011, seeking assurances from each that, if elected, they will act quickly to resolve the Sayisi Dene’s claim. Only the NDP has responded to date.

The Sayisi Dene First Nation have been seeking an apology from the federal government and settlement of a 14-year-old claim by the First Nation. They were forced from their traditional territory in Northern Manitoba in 1956 due to unfounded concerns about caribou herds, and “resettled” on the beach at Churchill without food or livelihood. Eighty-six Sayisi Dene died in Churchill and more than a hundred have died waiting for the claim to be settled.

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For more information:

Arne Peltz
Orle Davidson Giesbrecht Bargen LLP
p. (204) 989-2777 c. (204) 799-5206
apeltz@odgb.mb.ca

Download the letter to Prime Minister Harper (PDF)

Download the response from Jack Layton (PDF)