ABORIGINAL ISSUES:

VICTORY FOR GRASSY NARROWS:

This one has begun to spread widely across the internet in the last few days, as forestry giant Abitibi Bowater has decided to pull out of logging in the 'Whiskey Jack Forest' northeast of Kenora Ontario because of a 5 year long blockade on the part of local native groups who would be adversely affected by the project. It was hard to decide what to reprint here as there are numerous statements that have been circulating. Rather than quote various rather predatory NGOs who have made money out of this affair Molly decided to reprint this statement found at the Friends of Grassy Narrows website. The FoGN is a local Winnipeg based group that has been organizing support for the people of Grassy Narrows for many years, and while they basically quote the Toronto Star such a quotation is ethically cleaner than some from the NGOs. Not to tar all NGOs with the same brush. Some religious groups have offered as disinterested support as the FoGN have. Some others, however, have offered their support only in the context of raising funds for themselves. The reader is advised to consult the FoGN website for the comments appended to the article reproduced below. The libertarian socialist Autonomy and Solidarity website also hopes to have comments from the residents of Grassy Narrows soon.

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Protest prompts Abitibi pullout

Negotiations with band would take too long, forestry giant says

Jun 05, 2008 04:30 AM

Peter Gorrie ENVIRONMENT REPORTER

THESTAR.COM

One of the world's biggest logging companies has pulled out of a Northern Ontario forest because of opposition from a small local Indian community.

AbitibiBowater Inc. said it will surrender its licence to cut trees in the Whiskey Jack forest, about an hour's drive north of Kenora, because it can't wait for negotiations, recently announced by the province, that the company says will take at least four years.

The million-hectare forest is on land claimed by Grassy Narrows First Nation, which has been backed in a five-year blockade and publicity campaign by environment and human rights groups.

"We were thinking we'd have a quicker resolution," spokesperson Jean-Philippe Côté said in an interview. "We respect the decision, but it doesn't fit with our business interest. We don't want to wait four more years without knowing what's going to happen."

The giant company, formed last fall by the amalgamation of Abitibi Consolidated Inc. and Bowater Inc., is licensed to cut 700,000 cubic metres of wood a year from the forest until 2023.

It will, for now, get replacement wood from other forests. That's possible because the combined company is licensed to cut in other forests and the downturn in the forest industry has made wood supplies available elsewhere, Côté said. "This doesn't affect our operation."

Last month, the company reported a net loss of $248 million, or $4.32 per diluted share, on sales of $1.7 billion for the first quarter of 2008. For the same period last year, Bowater alone reported a net loss of $35 million, or $1.19 per diluted share, on sales of $772 million.

Supporters of Grassy Narrows called the withdrawal a clear message that businesses can't work in the North without local consent.

"All companies operating in the boreal forest should take this as a wake-up call," said David Sone of San Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network. "This is proof that communities can say `no' and enforce their right to control development in their territory."

The province has negotiated several forest agreements backed by industry, First Nations and other communities and will work toward one for Whiskey Jack, Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield said in an interview. "It shouldn't take four years." As for AbitibiBowater's time estimate: "It's their decision, not mine."

The issue of consultation is heating up across Northern Ontario, especially with a mine claim-staking rush underway. The highest-profile fight pits Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation against Platinex Inc., which wants to mine platinum on land KI claims.

Most of the Whiskey Jack logs go to a pulp mill in Fort Frances. Pulp produced there is piped to a paper mill across the Rainy River in International Falls, Minn.

That mill is owned by Boise Inc. Last February – soon after Grassy Narrows declared a moratorium on development without its consent – Boise said it would accept pulp only from operations approved by the community or from other sources.

THE FREEDOM ROAD:

SHOAL LAKE MARCHES ON WINNIPEG:

Last Saturday, April 28th, about 80 marchers began a trek from the source of the City of Winnipeg's aqueduct which supplies water for the City about 137 kilometers to the west. Their purpose....to draw attention to an almost 100 year old injustice whereby the City of Winnipeg acquired the right to import water from the traditional native lands around Shoal Lake. In 1913 the government of Canada arbitrarily split the lands of the Shoal Lake community into three parts and two distinct "bands" under Canadian law. In 1917 the Shoal Lake No 40 First Nation Community was presented with a fiat accompli as their homes were isolated on a man made island due to construction of a channel that cut their town off from the mainland. Since then they have had to depend upon a ferry to reach the mainland where title is held by Shoal Lake 39 Band. The artificial division of the band has resulted in a large bill from #39 which is virtually bankrupt as they try to shift their burdens to the other Band. What Band # 40 is demanding is the construction of an access road to their community and preferably an all weather causeway to the island which is isolated during freeze up and break up. Band #39 has also sent a bill for "parking" of the #40 emergency medical vehicle which has to be parked on the mainland for logistical reasons. The marchers arrived in Winnipeg yesterday and held a press conference with a backdrop of the planned Human Rights Museum at the forks. What they are saying is that it is all well and good that a museum be built commemorating human rights be built here but attention should also be paid to ongoing violations of human rights very close to the self-congratulatory museum.

The people of Band #40 refuse to blame their cash strapped neighbours, and want what is actually their due considering the situation that the Canadian government placed them in in the early 20th century without any compensation. For the local press report on this event see the Winnipeg Free Press article. For another view see the Friends of Grassy Narrows site(also in our Links board under 'Other Interesting Sites).

A FEW LITTLE INTERESTING MOLLY NOTES:

Nobody seems to know exactly how many people live at the Band #40 reserve. The Friends of Grassy Narrows say "roughly 250 people". As of July, 2006 the Department of Indian and Norther Affairs reported a population of 498. On March 22, 2007 they reported a total of 526 residents. Not astonishing as some band members live off reserve, but the REALLY interesting report is from Statistics Canada who report a population of ZERO on their site. You know why. Stats Can cannot be bothered to send enumerators to the ends of the earth. So it's "zero". Keep this in mind when they threaten you with criminal penalties for not filling in the census form. Put in the proper effort guys and maybe you might be looked on with less cynicism.

Another little interesting Molly Note refers to a report from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs dated March 22nd, 2007. It's entitled 'Plan of Action for Drinking Water in First Nations Communities'. The first thing that struck Molly on reading this "report" was the way that the bosses at the department demanded that the Canadian government be referred to ie "Canada's New Government" . This is not a typo. It reoccurs throughout the report. Note the capital letters. Does the new Conservative government claim rights to either divinity or a new nationality such that they can capitalize their rule ? I can expect such nonsense from leftist sectarians, but it's disconcerting to see this little attention grabber used in what is supposed to be a dispassionate bureaucratic report.

Another thing that struck Molly when reading this triumphalist report about how the federal Conservatives are "solving" the problem of contaminated water on Canadian Indian reserves is a certain ambiguity to the word "solved" . How are the problems defined as "solved" ? Is it simply defining "solved" as a new definition of the word ? The phrase "certified oversight" reoccurs during the paper, and it is particularly apt for the Shoal lake community which has been under a "drinking water advisory since Dec 6th, 2000. Yes indeed !!!!!!!!the people whose land was expropriated so that Winnipeg could have a reliable source of clean water have no access to same. The evidence of "progress" on this matter was that on May 5th, 2003 "a consultant is being selected to resign the new water treatment plant". Construction is proposed to begin in the spring of 2008 with a hopeful completion date in 2010. What is "certified oversight" ??? This report whines that "certified oversight, which would result in a lower risk rating for the community has been offered to the First Nation. However, the First Nation has not responded"

A 'Molly Prize' is offered for the astute reader who can see the grammatical error in the above quotation from the government. Anyways, let's take a breather here. You can get your "risk rating" reduced by accepting a title of "certified oversight" even though NOTHING will be accomplished in the real world for years to come ???????? Oh yes. I'm sure. Seems like a great way to redefine problems out of existence for the-once more note the capitalization- Canada's New Government.

Wow guys ! Don't make the manure too obvious.

Molly

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS LOGGING AT GRASSY NARROWS:

The indigenous community of Grassy Narrows has long been under attack by multinational logging companies, Weyerhaeuser and Abitibi, who wish to denude their traditional lands. The Ontario government has been complicit in this assault on a Canadian First Nation. For some time now the residents of Grassy Narrows have carried on an ongoing campaign to stop the clear cutting of their traditional lands. This spring they gained the support of Amnesty International who sent a fact finding mission to Grassy. The results of their mission can be read at the Amnesty Mission post, and they have initiated a letter campaign directed at the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources demanding proper consultation with the people of Grassy Narrows before any new logging can proceed.

The people of Grassy have been subjected to repeated assaults in the name of "progress". In the 1950s provincial hydroelectric dams flooded large parts of their traditional lands and wiped out many of the wild rice beds that they gathered from. In the 1970s a pulp and paper mill contaminated their water with mercury that still causes health problems to this day. Over 50% of their traditional territory has already been logged, despite an 1873 treaty that guarantees their rights to hunt and fish on their traditional lands. The Ontario government has granted licences to log in these lands until 2034.

To protest the continuing assault on this band go to the letter campaign above. To follow the news from Grassy go to the Friends of Grassy Narrows site.

INTERESTING ITEMS FROM ANOTHER LOCAL BLOG:
Another local blog from here in the world's freezer box, good ol' Winnipeg, Ecology and Participatory Democracy, has published a couple of interesting articles on the continuing struggle by the people of the community of Grassy Narrows to prevent industrial clearcut logging on their traditional lands. Grassy Narrows is a small native community of about 1,000 band members located about 80 kilometers north of Kenora, Ontario. Over the years they have endured a lot including violations of their treaty rights, the theft of their children by residential schools, forced relocation, flooding of their traditional burial grounds and wild rice gathering sites by hydroelectric dams and mercury poisoning due to the actions of a paper mill upstream from their community. The latest assault on these people is that the Ontario government has leased their traditional lands for logging by corporations such as Weyerhaeuser and Abitibi. About 50% of their traditional lands have now been clearcut. After logging the cut areas are sprayed with herbicides and replanted by a monoculture of tree farms. These "replacement forests" are devoid of the plants and even the wildlife that the people of Grassy Narrows have traditionally relied upon to support themselves.




Last July the people of Grassy Narrows and their supporters took to blocking highways to protest this continuing attack on their way of life. A total of 21 people were charged with "mischief" because of the two blockades. Ecology and Participatory Democracy gives a report about the latest charges against 5 of these protesters. The trial of two of them has been set over to March 12th. The other three, all from one local family resident in Grassy Narrows, have refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the court. Their case has been adjourned to Feb 26th. For further details see Ecology and Participatory Democracy.




If you want to learn more about the history and struggles of the people of Grassy Narrows go to the Friends of Grassy Narrows site or the Free Grassy Narrows site.





In a totally different vein another local blogger, The Vindicated Anarchist, has a hilarious blog on 'No Fashion at 40 Below'. There's no fashion in Winnipeg at any time, but our sartorial habits get even more ridiculous as we approach the point where carbon dioxide may precipitate out of the air. Ah..."but its a dry ice cold". Go over for a chuckle.
Molly