Mailing address:
3536 - 106 Street
Edmonton, AB T6J 1A4
403-436-5652
FAX: 403-437-0719
August 22, 1991
Enclosed for your information is a copy of a newspaper article on
the situation with Daishowa and the Lubicons.
The quotes by Daishowa officials are noteworthy.
* * * * *
Re-printed from the WINDSPEAKER, August 16, 1991
LOGGING MAY BE THE LAST STRAW FOR LUBICONS
By Amy Santoro
Windspeaker Staff Writer
Edmonton
The Lubicon Nation may not survive as a society if Daishowa
Canada goes ahead with a major logging operation this fall, says
Lubicon advisor Fred Lennarson.
Lennarson said there's "little doubt Daishowa now intends a major
logging operation in unceded Lubicon territory this fall." If
the Japanese-based corporation, which owns a megamill in Peace
River, can't be stopped, Lennarson predicts the result will be "a
fatal blow to the collective psyche of the already badly battered
and profoundly damaged Lubicon society."
The Lubicon people are a tired group after a consistent hard-
hitting 10-year battle with oil giants, pulp companies and the
federal and provincial governments, Lennarson told WINDSPEAKER.
"It's not at all clear the Lubicon people are up to once again
leading the charge," he said.
Lennarson said it's up to Canadians now to take up the battle.
"Don't wait for the Lubicons to do something, you have a stake in
this too."
Lennarson wouldn't specify what he recommends Canadians do, only
it must "go beyond letter writing and protests" because the
government and companies like Daishowa "hire professional liars"
to deal with the complaints.
Lennarson said he has "no problem asking Canadians to participate
in civil disobedience -- this government isn't interested in the
rule of law. My hesitation is I don't want to presume to suggest
something specific to people, at least at this point. I'm not
speaking to a hierarchically organized army."
Lennarson is urging people to "take a position of their own, not
simply saying 'I support the Lubicon Indians' but saying 'I
oppose Canada destroying aboriginal societies for these natural
resources'."
Jim Morrison, general manager of Daishowa's Edmonton office, said
in an interview Daishowa has no plans for a major logging
operation this fall.
However, a subsidiary -- Brewster Construction -- does plan to
log in unceded Lubicon land but nowhere near the 243 sq km
proposed reserve area. Daishowa vice-president Tom Hamaoka
couldn't be reached for comment.
Daishowa communications officer Wayne Crouse told WINDSPEAKER
"it's misleading to say Daishowa is undertaking a major logging
operation. We're taking sawmill residuals we're obliged to take
by law."
But Crouse confirmed Brewster will be logging in unceded Lubicon
territory. "Brewster has a quota, they're continuing their
normal logging operation."
Morrison said no agreement was made with the Lubicons not to log
in the band's 10,000 sq km traditional territory, which lies
within Daishowa's Forest Management Agreement with the province.
Lennarson claimed Daishowa agreed at a March 07, 1988, meeting to
stay out of Lubicon territory until the band settles its land
dispute. But Morrison remembered things differently. He said
Daishowa agreed not to log in the proposed reserve area "and
we're not".
Lennarson said if Morrison "was Geppetto's dummy instead of
Daishowa's, his nose would be a mile long and still growing."
Morrison laughed at the suggestion.
Lubicon Indians have been fighting for a land settlement for over
50 years.
In 1989 the band rejected a federal settlement package of $45
million on a 246 sq km reserve. The Lubicons want $167 million
in economic compensation.
Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak was unavailable for comment.