Aboriginal group sues over Edmonton lands

A group of aboriginal people is suing the government of Canada Friday for taking away its land more than a century ago.

The Papaschase Descendants Council says their predecessors were forced off their land in south Edmonton in 1888. That land, virtually all of the city south of 51 Ave., would be worth more than $2-billion today.

The Papaschase council filed its suit in Alberta Court of Queen's Bench Friday. Ron Maurice, the lawyer representing the group, says his clients don't want the land back, but they do want compensation.

"We're looking at it from the perspective of obtaining restitution for the loss of the land," says Maurice. "We're talking about either the replacement value of the land or replacement lands somewhere else. Those are really the options that we're looking at."

Maurice says the group filed a lawsuit instead of a land claim because the Papaschase people are not recognized by the federal government as an Indian band. There are 3,000 to 5,000 Papaschase people who live primarily in central and northern Alberta.