Grassy Narrows declares victory in logging dispute

A Kenora-area First Nation is declaring victory in an 11-year court battle to stop logging on its traditional lands.

Grassy Narrows First Nation (Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek) had challenged the province’s right to permit industrial logging on its traditional lands, saying it interferes with their rights under a treaty signed with the federal government.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Mary-Anne Sanderson has ruled that the province doesn’t have the power to interfere with the band’s treaty rights, which is a federal issue.

The band stated in a news release Wednesday that the decision sets the stage for proper recognition and protection of Treaty 3 rights and, more importantly, will help protect the Anishinaabe way of life in Northwestern Ontario.

“Grassy Narrows hopes that this will be a turning point in this battle. We expect that real protection for the endangered boreal forest and our way of life will be put in place immediately,” the band said.

The First Nation’s lawyer, Robert Janes, said the judge also noted in her 300-page decision that the federal government promised to defend the band’s rights, but hasn’t done so for many years. Janes said the ruling will likely have legal implications for similar disputes in Ontario and across Canada.
One of the trappers who launched the case in 2000, Joseph Fobister, called the ruling a victory for his people, who set up a blockade in 2002 to stop logging trucks.

“We have struggled for many years to save our way of life in the face of uncontrolled clear cutting, which has contaminated our waters and destroyed our lands,” he said.

Grand Council Treaty 3 Chief Diane Kelly said “the premise that Ontario has a licence to develop our territory so that the Anishinaabe way of life becomes a relic of history was found to be unconstitutional.

“We now have a great tool to bring to both Crown governments and say work with us, help build the economy that Treaty 3 promised in 1873 and in doing so, let us not forget that the Anishinaabe way of life is as important as the Canadian economy, today and forever,” Kelly added.

At a news conference in Toronto on Wednesday, Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister urged the provincial and federal governments to come to the table to negotiate a modern understanding that would respect and implement the First Nation’s rights.

“This will require protecting the way of life of the Anishinaabe who were here before the logging industry came to these lands and will be here after the logging companies have moved on to other forests,” he said.

Grassy Narrows also called on the province to honour the spirit and intent of the court decision by moving to eliminate clear cut logging in Grassy Narrows traditional territory, and to develop a new approach to natural resource management in partnership with the community.

A spokesperson for Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Minister Michael Gravelle’s said the Ontario Superior Court decision is under review.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace applauded the Superior Court ruling.
“Today we witnessed what should be the beginning of the end of the ‘log first, ask later’ approach of the Ontario government to Aboriginal treaty areas,” said Greenpeace forest campaigner Shane Moffatt.

Greenpeace also called on the Ontario government to respect the judge’s ruling that First Nations have the right to say no to industrial development in their territories.

“This historic judgment should mark a turning point in relations between First Nations and the rest of Canada,” Moffatt said.

Justice Sanderson considered her decision for more than a full year, after hearing evidence and arguments over seven months, from Sept. 14, 2009 until May 3, 2010.

This decision is the latest development in a long-standing dispute between the community and province to end industrial clear cut logging on its traditional lands.

Government and industry officials failed to heed years of complaints from the First Nation, environmental assessment requests, meetings and public protests, giving rise to a grassroots blockade that started in 2002 that has kept logging trucks off Highway 671 since then.

In 2008, Grassy Narrows and the provnce entered into negotiations aimed at creating a positive government-to-government relationship by developing a long-term agreement for the protection, management and use of the Whiskey Jack Forest.

In April 2011, the parties entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to re-commit to that process and, among other things, plan for limited logging according to alternative forestry methods proposed by Grassy Narrows. However, the community’s concerns have not been resolved, and no substantive agreement has been reached, the band says.

Several major logging companies, including Boise, Domtar and AbitibiBowater, say they will not log within Grassy Narrows traditional territory; and little or no clear cut logging has occurred since AbitibiBowater surrendered its licence to the province in 2008.

— With files from The Canadian Press