[IPSM] [PR-UBCIC] HUNDREDS CONVERGE AGAINST SUN PEAKS RESORT ON AUG 29]

[Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movment - Montreal]

PRESS ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUGUST 24, 2004

SUBJECT: HUNDREDS CONVERGE AGAINST SUN PEAKS RESORT ON AUG 29

Hundreds of protestors will be converging on Sun Peaks Resort near 
Kamloops, BC on August 29, 2004 to protest Sun Peaks Resort expansion 
onto unceded Secwepemc territories. The provincial and federal
government's complicity in granting Sun Peaks leases on unceded
traditional territories demonstrates that the government is yet again 
turning a blind eye to Aboriginal rights and to Aboriginal people who 
have occupied the lands since time immemorial.

The Delgamuukwz Haida and Taku River Tlingit court decisions clearly 
obligate the Province of BC and the Sun Peaks Resort to undertake 
substantive consultations with Aboriginal people prior to proceeding  with
development projects. As a result of protesting the development,  to date
54 arrests of Elders and youth have been made. Chief Stewart  Phillip,
President of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs  stated, "Our
Elders and our young people will not be intimidated into  abandoning their
struggle to seek a just resolution of the Land
Question in British Columbia."

Author of the best-selling book No Logo Naomi Klein recently visited  the
Secwepemc territories to witness first hand the destruction of  the land.
She writes: "Let's be clear about something: the massive  expansion of the
Sun Peaks Resort is an act of violence. The
Secwepemc have never ceded this land, and their Elders have clearly  said
no to this development. New condos are going up, and traditional 
Secwepemc cabins and sweat lodges are being brutally torn down."

In June 2004, Sun Peaks announced another phase of expansion that  will
now total $285 million, primarily around the selling of real  estate to
serve as a playground for tourists. This will eventually  develop 10,352
bed units over the next 10 years.

Various other groups and organizations have endorsed and will be
supporting this convergence. Speakers present during the August 29th 
demonstration will include defenders, Elders and Youth of Secwepemc 
territories, Chief Stewart Philip (President of Union of BC Indian 
Chiefs), June Quipp of Pila'lit Nation (Cheam) also fighting illegal 
expansion and clearcuts, 72-year old great grandmother Betty Krawczyk 
(Women in the Woods) jailed for protesting the Working Forest
legislation, Council of Canadians BC Regional Organizer Tara Scurr,  and
Professor Hari Sharma (President of South Asian Network for
Secularism and Democracy).


MEDIA CONTACTS:
Janice Billy- spokesperson of Skewek'welt Protection Center:
250-318-4290; Don Bain- Executive Director of Union of BC Indian
Chiefs: 604-813-9709; David Cunnigham- Anti-Poverty Committee:
604-317-5346; Harsha Walia- No One is Illegal: 778-885-0040

For more information on the convergence: apc.resist.ca

- 30-

-- 

Established in 1969, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs is a 
political organization protecting the Aboriginal Title and Rights of  our
member communities. We are based in Kamloops and have an office  in
Vancouver. For further details visit our website at
http://www.ubcic.bc.ca



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