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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 2, 1995
"Innu Not Surprised by Government Decision to Triple
Low-Level Flights"
(SHESHATSHIU) Innu Nation's Director of Innu Rights and
Environment, Daniel Ashini, said today that he is not at all
surprised at the federal government's response to the Panel
recommendations regarding military flight training over
Quebec and Labrador. "This is the logical conclusion of an
eight-year rubber-stamping process," said Mr. Ashini. "It is
not at all surprising that the government agrees with the
Panel's recommendations to triple the number of training
flights when the government is the proponent of the training
in the first place."
Mr. Ashini added, "The government stacked the deck during
the environmental review process by appointing all the
Environmental Assessment Panel members, three of whom were
former federal government bureaucrats. Then, we had
kangaroo-court environmental hearings where the Panel heard
mostly from the military, politicians, bureaucrats and other
people in favour of the training. It's completely
understandable that the Panel capitulated to the Department
of National Defence (DND) in making its recommendations. The
recommendations were so sympathetic to DND, it's hardly any
wonder Cabinet accepted them almost outright. It's as if DND
wrote the recommendations themselves."
According to Mr. Ashini, "the government's decision to
expand the number of training is extremely irresponsible.
Contrary to its own recommendations, the Panel noted that
not very much is known the impact of the flight training on
wildlife. That's why they proposed 15 years of research on
this topic. But the government wants to go full-steam ahead
with the training on the basis of very little environmental
data. This shows that the government's commitment to
environment protection is a smokescreen."
Furthermore, said Mr. Ashini, "this decision to increase the
training is extremely prejudicial to our position at the
land rights negotiating table. DND will doing everything in
its power to make sure that the flight training is protected
at the table. So we have in effect lost a major portion of
our territory to flight training. In conjunction with the
present frenzied mineral exploration activity at Voisey Bay,
forestry proposals, hydroelectric dams and other industrial
activities, there isn't much of our traditional land being
left for the Innu people."
As for the proposed research Institute, Mr. Ashini said "We
are very worried that the Institute will be just another
public relations exercise for DND. DND could well end up
stacking all the board members of the Institute so that it
will be impossible for it to be impartial and objective. As
it stands, the Institute will not have any teeth. What we
need is a regulatory agency that will have the power to
impose environmental restrictions on DND and terminate the
training should independent research prove once and for all
that wildlife and people are being harmed. The First Nations
of Quebec and Labrador who are affected by the training must
be given adequate representation on the board of the
Institute."
Finally, Mr. Ashini said, "this is just another sad chapter
in the history of relations between Europeans and First
Nations. The more powerful impose their laws and steal our
lands. The only difference between the massacre at Wounded
Knee and DND's behavior in the 20th century, is that
cultural genocide against the Innu is being covered up with
fancy public relations in the form of environmental review
processes. A hundred years from now, people will look back
and recognize more clearly how lands were stolen from the
Innu people, and how we fought every way we could to stop
this from happening."
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