MACLEANS

Grassy Narrows warns Weyerhaeuser, Abitibi against 'destruction of homeland

February 28, 2006

GRASSY NARROWS, Ont. (CP) – Frustrated by what they see as an industrial invasion of their territory, aboriginal people in northwestern Ontario are warning two forestry giants to stop logging the area or face an international protest.

In a letter sent to Weyerhaeuser Co. Ltd. and Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. on Tuesday, the Grassy Narrows First Nation accused the companies of cultural and environmental devastation.

"This letter is your final official notice that you are taking part in the destruction of our homeland," the letter states.

"Know that you face a fierce campaign against you on all fronts – in the woods, in the streets, in the marketplace, in your boardrooms and in the media."

The 700-member community of Grassy Narrows has long complained that decades of unsustainable logging have poisoned area waters with mercury and other toxins and all but destroyed their aboriginal way of life.

Negotiations, lawsuits, requests for environmental assessments, public protests and a three-year blockade in the forest have all failed to win an improvement in the situation, the letter states.

"The Earth is suffering and we as human beings are suffering," said Judy Da Silva, a member of the Grassy Narrows environmental committee.

"The water is really polluted, there's a lot of erosion on the land, and . . . we're still finding high levels of mercury in animals."

Denis Leclerc, Abitibi's director of corporate affairs, said Grassy Narrow's demands recently changed to include recognition of their traditional land-use area, something the company has no control over.

"It's almost impossible for a forest and paper company to contribute concretely to a resolution when the demands from Grassy Narrows are directly related to government decisions," Leclerc said.

Bonny Skene, Ontario public affairs manager for Weyerhaeuser Canada, said Montreal-based Abitibi-Consolidated is responsible for managing the forest and does so according to plans sanctioned by the provincial government.

Weyerhaeuser, which uses hardwood from forests in the area to feed its mill in nearby Kenora, Ont., takes the concerns stated in the letter seriously, she said.

"Weyerhaeuser is committed to building mutually beneficial relationships with aboriginal communities," Skene said from the company's regional offices in Dryden, Ont.

"We understand the demands on forests today and meeting the demands requires all of us to work together."

David Sone, an organizer with the Rainforest Action Network based in San Francisco, said the forest companies have "run amok" in Grassy Narrows and need to be stopped.

"This letter signals the beginning of a serious escalation of the struggle to protect Grassy Narrows," Sone said.

"It makes very clear their wishes and interests aren't being respected and they don't intend to sit back and watch that happen."

Last fall, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society issued a report that denounced Abitibi for clear cutting huge tracts land in the region and replanting it with ecologically barren tree plantations.

"The clear cutting of the land and the destruction of the forest is an attack on our people," said Roberta Kessik, a Grassy Narrows grandmother and trapper.

"The land is the basis of who we are."

The First Nations also worry that irreversible damage will be done to eco-tourism in the area, further damaging the longer-term economic prospects in the region.