FOL Press Statement made at a Press Conference
Ontario Provincial Legislature Press Gallery in Toronto
April 14, 1998
Today's decision is an important one for ourselves and for all Canadians
who have, for the last 3 years, watched Daishowa threaten rights we all
hold dear.
But most importantly, today's decision is a signal to the federal
government that Lubicon land rights must be resolved politically, that
negotiations cannot be endlessly delayed. The Minister of Indian Affairs
must sit down at the table and begin sincere, good faith negotiations by
reaffirming agreements already made and using comprehensive Lubicon
settlement proposals as a simple basis for identifying areas for
negotiation. Justice McPherson explicitly states that the "current state of
affairs for the Lubicon Cree ... deserves the adjectives tragic, desperate
and intolerable."
The federal government has a responsibility to ensure that these issues are
not fought out in the courts and in the marketplace, but so far, despite
numerous promises, they have failed miserably to uphold that
responsibility.
But Daishowa has a responsibility as well. Daishowa is responsible for its
own actions. They can choose not to exploit the ambiguous state of Lubicon
land rights by refraining from stealing resources from those lands before
the rights are settled. For three years now, Daishowa has instead tried to
bully their way out of the problem. It should be clear by now that we will
not be intimidated, bankrupted or silenced.
All we've ever asked Daishowa to do is to make a clear, public and
unequivocal commitment not to cut or buy wood cut on Lubicon territories
until a land rights settlement has been reached with both levels of
government and a harvesting agreement negotiated with the Lubicons which
respects Lubicon wildlife and environmental concerns.
Daishowa has tried bluffing, and they've tried bullying, maybe now they
should try responding to the simple request the Lubicon have put before
them.
Upon receiving this decision, our first instinct was to restart the boycott
immediately. However we will instead give Daishowa some time to consider
making the right decision. We will wait ten days. If, after those ten days,
Daishowa still refuses to make the commitment to do the responsible thing,
we will again begin contacting major Daishowa customers. And frankly, the
boycott will be bigger than before and it will extend across several
jurisdictions. We will use our freedom of expression to its fullest extent.
The bottom line is that citizens in any country have a responsibility and a
right to challenge injustices by their governments and they have a
responsibility and a right to challenge injustices by the corporations
which operate in their country. We have fulfilled that responsibility to
act on our conscience, and we will continue to use whatever democratic
means are available to us to ensure that the rights of the Lubicon people
are respected, because only in doing so can we ensure that all Canadians
rights are respected.
Kevin Thomas
for Friends of the Lubicon