E/CN.4/2005/88/Add.3 page 20 development going. He recognizes that all levels of government have a responsibility in this effort and calls upon all parties not to neglect the objectives of a human rights centred development, in particular given the circumstances in which most Aboriginal people find themselves today. 81. The St’at’imc community of Sutikalh in British Columbia is concerned about a major development that would bring about environmental damage and disrupt the continuity of St’at’imc culture and identity. One local leader states: “I still say no to the destruction that it would cause to our lands … there is already enough damage done …. A lot of our history will be lost there … our trees that are 100 years old, our medicines, the natural habitat of the black bears … all of our huckleberry patches are gone … from all the pollution in the area, the sewage and garbage …”. The nearby Aboriginal community of Lillooet has rejected a plan to create a mega-tourist resort on its territory. The local activists involved in protests against this development complain about having been harassed and unjustly persecuted. Similarly, the Secwepemc complained to the Special Rapporteur about harassment and persecution endured because of their opposition to the devastation and destruction of their land base caused by a resort development. 82. In Cross Lake, Manitoba, the Pimicikamak have protested over the years against the deep impact on their boreal forest environment, waters, traditional economy and way of life of a massive hydroelectric project established in the 1970s without consultation or consent. The Pimicikamak Chief informed the Special Rapporteur that “for more than 25 years our people have suffered the oppressive loss of a healthy economy based on fishing, hunting and trapping. We live in mass poverty with an unemployment rate of about 85 per cent. Our once life-sustaining environment has turned into a dangerous and deadly place. Hopelessness and despair have led to one of the highest suicide rates in the country”. The Special Rapporteur was able to observe directly the deplorable housing conditions and poverty prevailing at Cross Lake during his visit in 2003. The community has submitted a complaint to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 83. It is encouraging that the 2004 Speech from the Throne recognizes that Aboriginal Canadians have not fully shared in the nation’s good fortune and that conditions in far too many Aboriginal communities are described as “shameful”. Canada’s stated goal is to see Aboriginal children get a better start in life, to see real economic opportunities for Aboriginal individuals and communities, with greater economic self-reliance, a better quality of life. These objectives are reflected in the Federal Budget for 2004, which stresses Aboriginal human resource development, an urban Aboriginal strategy, Métis hunting rights, an independent centre for First Nations government, among others. Planned spending for federal programmes to Aboriginal peoples in 2004-2005 is Can$ 8.81 billion, but Aboriginal critics argue that these funds are in large part consumed by federal government bureaucracy, and are also used to support dependency in the context of overall residual landlessness and to settle outstanding claims for land dispossession and residential school cases.