Ontario Natural Resources Minister David Orazietti says he and Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Zimmer had a “productive meeting” with Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister, Treaty 3 Grand Chief Warren White and Regional Chief Stan Beardy when they were at Queen’s Park to protest the finalized version of the province’s 10-year Whiskey Jack Forest Management Plan.

“I always welcome and am interested in working together with our First Nation partners in the province. The forest management plan is obviously an area where we have some challenges,” said Orazietti.

The three chiefs were in Toronto on Thursday, Jan. 30, to hold a press conference on the steps of Queen’s Park to make it clear they have rejected the province’s Whiskey Jack Forest Management Plan, which just finished its 30-day public comment period last month, and is expected to go into effect on April 1. Meanwhile Grassy Narrows is challenging the province’s right to unilaterally issue logging permits inside the First Nation’s traditional territory.

“They expressed their concerns with regard to the forest management plan. I respect their decision to proceed with their legal challenge (at the Supreme Court of Canada), and to work towards a final solution in that process,” said Orazietti.

“But regardless of what the outcome of the process at the Supreme Court turns out to be, I want to ensure that the province has a strong relationship with its First Nations partners and that First Nations benefit directly from the resources in the communities and on their traditional lands. That was the spirit in which our meeting was held.”

Grassy Narrows and its supporters are requesting an environmental assessment of the decade-long plan to investigate what kind of impacts large-scale logging operations may have on the land and water quality. The community says it is still dealing with the aftermath of mercury poisoning from industrial operations in the past.

Orazietti said they didn’t discuss the creation of a formal environmental assessment during the meeting, but did talk about making sure any logging operations took into account the cultural needs of the community and preserving the forest’s overall health.

“They want, as do we, to be certain about the volumes of woods available in the Whiskey Jack and the health of that forest. I will be working with officials in our ministry to review that information and to make sure we have the latest up-to-date information on that forest and what can be made available for harvest in a sustainable way,” said the minister.

When asked if the planning process for forestry in the Whiskey Jack should be put on hold until after the court case was resolved, all Orazietti would say was that he was committed to working with the First Nations to come up with a plan which makes sense and where First Nation communities “play a leading role.”

Requests for comment made to chiefs Fobister, Beardy and White were not answered.