Enclosed for your information is a copy of a positively inspired
letter recently sent to the Chairman of the Ontario Liquor Control
Board by the Toronto Friends of the Lubicon.
The letter represents the kind of pointed action required to
hopefully stop Daishowa from delivering a final coup de grace to
the embattled Lubicon society.
It would be helpful if people from across the country and around
the world wrote Ontario Premier Bob Rae supporting the request by
the Toronto Friends of the Lubicon. Premier Rae is known to be
generally sympathetic and may well be supportive if the message
gets through to him. Premier Rae's mailing address is :
The Hon. B. Rae
Premier, Government of Ontario
Queen's Park
Toronto, ONT M7A 2B7
It would also be good if people from across the country and around
the world considered action similar to that being taken by the
Toronto Friends of the Lubicon. Daishowa's paper products are
typically marked as having been produced by Daishowa. In addition
local environmental groups might prove a useful source of
information about Daishowa's commercial involvements in specific
areas, since Daishowa is a major threat to the world's forests as
well as to the Lubicons.
August 15, 1991, Letter to Chairman Andy Brandt, Liquor Control
Board of Ontario, 55 Lakeshore Blvd. East, Toronto, ONT M5E 1A4,
from Stephen Kenda, Friends of the Lubicon (Toronto), 485 Ridelle
Avenue, Toronto, ONT M6B 1K6 (re-printed with permission)
Dear Mr. Brandt,
The recent historic signing between Ontario and First Nations'
Chiefs recognizing aboriginal rights to self government opens the
road for a rebalancing of relations. For rebalancing to occur,
actions in line with the spirit of the accord are mandatory at this
time.
But what is to be done, you may ask?
We, the Friends of the Lubicon, note with grave concern that paper
bags used by LCBO retain outlets are made by Daishowa.
Did you know that:
Daishowa Canada Ltd. is violating a March 1988 agreement not
to log unceded Lubicon Lake Indian territory.
In pronouncing its March '90 verdict of a Human Rights
Violation, the United Nations stated that "recent
developments threaten the way of life and culture of the
Lubicon Lake Band and constitute a violation of Article 27 so
long as they continue".
Daishowa's clear-cutting continues to accelerate the cultural
genocide.
Rather than sustaining support for this morally indefensible
cultural slaughter and in keeping with Ontario's commitment to
ameliorate the plight of aboriginal people, the Friends of the
Lubicon strongly urge the LCBO to employ an alternate source for
its paper bags.
Thank you for your time. We hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Stephen Kenda
FRIENDS OF THE LUBICON (Toronto)