CANADIAN PRESS

Protest against logging near reserve blocks Trans-Canada Highway near Kenora, Ont.

July 13, 2006

By Steve Lambert

KENORA, Ont. (CP) – A long-standing dispute over clear-cut logging practices near a northern Ontario aboriginal reserve came to a head Thursday as some 100 protesters erected a blockade on the Trans- Canada Highway.

"There's a 30-foot-tall metal tripod erected – dead centre of the road," David Sone of the Rainforest Action Network said from the site near Kenora, Ont. "(There's) a person suspended from the top and chained to it and she's holding a banner that says, 'Save Grassy Narrows Boreal Forest."'

The protesters accuse logging companies Weyerhaeuser Corp., and Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., of clear-cutting on traditional native lands near the Grassy Narrows reserve – despite opposition from reserve residents.

The work has made it harder for the residents to engage in hunting and other traditional activities and animal habitats have been destroyed, said Grassy Narrows spokesman Joe Fobister.

"These companies clear-cut large amounts of our land and we receive no economic benefits," Fobister said.

Protesters blame the Ontario government for not doing enough to seriously address their concerns, Sone said.

"They've filed every kind of legal proceeding and every kind of official complaint possible, and there's been absolutely no response from the (Ontario Premier Dalton) McGuinty government or from Weyerhaeuser or Abitibi Corp."

Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay told CJRL Radio that talks with the First Nation have been ongoing since 2004.

"Unfortunately our talks have not progressed the way we would hope, but we're certainly committed to deal with the issues that Grassy Narrows is bringing up," Ramsay said.

"We want to work these (issues) out and we think through negotiation is the way to do that."

A spokesman for Abitibi refused to comment on the blockade, but did say the company "made a clear commitment to stop logging in the area representing approximately a 10-kilometre radius" around the reserve.

After that commitment was made to Chief Simon Fobister, the Grassy Narrows community expanded the area in need of protection, Seth Kursman said from the company's Montreal headquarters.

"Since 2003, this company has been very aggressive in responding to the concerns that have been expressed (by the aboriginals)," said Kursman.

Halting logging on the expanded area would eliminate almost all activity in the forest, he said.

"When you then take those concerns to a level that no company can respond to, there's not much we can do."

A spokeswoman for Weyerhaeuser Canada said the company doesn't even log on the land, it simply delivers wood from the Whiskey Jack forest – under provincial directives – to other companies.

Bonny Skene said the Rainforest Action Network has been protesting against Weyerhaeuser's practices as part of a campaign that's unrelated to the Grassy Narrows reserve.

Skene said Weyerhaeuser meets with the group in facilitated sessions and is committed to continue meeting to resolve their differences.

The protesters said they plan to dismantle the blockade by dusk. They had only planned to stop logging trucks during the blockade and were going to allow smaller vehicles through, Sone said, but police closed the road to all traffic.

Ontario Provincial Police Const. Karen Rustidge said traffic was being diverted through Kenora so people could travel east and west.

Police were standing by at the scene of the protest but made no move to remove the blockade.