For Immediate Release
(Toronto, Ontario, Canada) June 20, 1997 - The Supreme Court of Canada
yesterday denied leave to appeal a lower court ruling outlawing an "enormously
successful" consumer boycott. No reasons were given. (FoL note: "enormously
successful" above are the words of the appellate court)
The multinational paper company Daishowa is suing the Toronto group Friends of
the Lubicon for its boycott campaign in support of the Lubicon Lake Cree
Nation of Alberta. Since the boycott began in 1991, Daishowa has been forced
to hold off clear-cut logging operations on disputed Native lands. But last
year the company convinced an appellate court of the Ontario Court General
Division to enjoin the boycott pending a trial and is now seeking damages it
claims have topped $12 million.
The multi-billion dollar paper company will press its damages claim against
volunteer members of Toronto Friends at a trial scheduled for 3 weeks
beginning September 2, 1997. Daishowa is also seeking a permanent injunction
against the consumer boycott at trial.
The Supreme Court's refusal comes 7 months after the Friends' leave
application was submitted. Prior to that, the Ontario Court of Appeal had also
rejected a Friends' leave to appeal application -- also without giving
reasons.
Friends' spokesperson Kevin Thomas explains "In 1995, the courts ruled the
boycott legal. When Daishowa appealed, the judges flung the courtroom doors
wide open, heard the case and stopped the boycott. When we knocked, the
courtroom doors have twice been locked...Our biggest fear now is that Daishowa
will get the trial court to shut down the boycott forever and then resume
clearcut logging Lubicon land either directly or using others this fall."
For more information please call:
Kevin Thomas, spokesperson, Friends of the Lubicon, 416-631-4048
Ed Bianchi, spokesperson, Friends of the Lubicon, 613-235-9956
Stephen Kenda, spokesperson, Friends of the Lubicon, 416-763-7500
Karen Wristen, counsel, Sierra Legal Defence Fund, 604-685-5618
or e-mail Friends of the Lubicon at fol@tao.ca
or view the Lubicon supporters' web page at
http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Lubicon/main.html
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P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2
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