Tweet
FROM: CANADA NEWS WIRE TELBEC WEBSITE
_http://www.cnw.ca/en/releases/archive/July2006/13/c9751.html_
(http://www.cnw.ca/en/releases/archiv.../13/c9751.html)
Attention News Editors:
BREAKING NEWS - More than 100 Supporters Blockade TransCanada Highway in
Support of Grassy Narrows
High-res, professional quality photos and B-roll available.
Video available on site.
KENORA, ON, July 13 /CNW/ - A hundred Grassy Narrows supporters from
across North America are shutting down the TransCanada Highway in Northern
Ontraio in solidarity with the Grassy Narrows' call to halt clearcut logging
by Weyerhaeuser Corp. and Abitibi Consolidated Inc. on their traditional lands
in the boreal forest.
Supporters erected a 30 foot tall tripod on the highway and perched on
the top, while others locked themselves to cement filled oil drums and even
the axle of a Weyerhaeuser log truck. The action stopped log trucks carrying
hardwood trees logged on Grassy Narrows traditional territory on their way to
the Weyerhaeuser Trus Joist Timberstrand mill in Kenora. Their banners read
"Save Grassy Narrows' Boreal Forest," "Wake up Weyerhaeuser, Defend Native
Rights, Defend Ancient Forests," "Freedom for Grassy Narrows; No logging
without consent."
For over a decade Grassy Narrows has been working to end clearcut logging
on their Traditional Territory. The Ontario McGuinty government, Weyerhaeuser
and Abitibi failed to respond to years of official complaints, environmental
assessment requests, negotiations, and public protest which gave rise to a
blockade that has continued for more than three years. This action by the
Rainforest Action Network, Grassy Narrows community members, supporters from
other Native communities, and other supporters of social and ecological
justice from across North America marks the latest development in the growing
international response to a call to action issued by Grassy Narrows community
leaders in late February, 2006.
"Weyerhaeuser is destroying an ancient way of life and an ecosystem vital
to our plant's health while the McGuinty government fails to act to resolve
this crisis," said David Sone, an Organizer for Rainforest Action Network's
Old Growth campaign. "We stand proudly with the people of Grassy Narrows and
will continue to help protect the Boreal Forest and defend their Traditional
Territory."
"The clear-cutting of the land is an attack on our people," said Roberta
Keesick, a Grassy Narrows blockader, grandmother and trapper. "The land is the
basis of who we are. Our culture is a land-based culture, and the destruction
of the land is the destruction of our culture. Weyerhaeuser and the McGuinty
government don't want us on the land, they want us out of the way so they can
take the resources. We can't allow them to carry on with this cultural
genocide."
Last month, the Superior Court of Ontario ordered the province to pay
legal costs associated with a lawsuit challenging clear-cut logging on the
community's traditional lands. However, proceedings for the three- year old
legal action will not be heard until late 2008. Meanwhile, clearcutting
continues unabated. In a recent submission to the United Nations, Amnesty
International argued that current logging on Grassy Narrows' traditional land
violates the community's indigenous rights to self-determination and culture
and fails to meet international standards of "free prior and informed consent"
for development on traditional Indigenous lands.
For more information go to FreeGrassy.org
Rainforest Action Network campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants,
and the natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global
marketplace through education, grassroots organizing, and non-violent direct
action.
For further information: David Sone, Rainforest Action Network, (On
site): (416) 452-4199; Leah Henderson, (On Site): (647) 883-5983; Brianna Cayo
Cotter, RAN: (415) 305-1943; Joe B. Fobister (Grassy Narrows Spokesperson) -
work: (807) 925 2071, home: (807) 925 2745
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK - More on this organization _
News Releases_ (http://www.cnw.ca/en/releases/orgDisplay.cgi?okey=49635)
(1) _
Photo Archive_ (http://photos.newswire.ca/)
_http://www.cnw.ca/en/releases/archive/July2006/13/c9751.html_
(http://www.cnw.ca/en/releases/archiv.../13/c9751.html)
Attention News Editors:
BREAKING NEWS - More than 100 Supporters Blockade TransCanada Highway in
Support of Grassy Narrows
High-res, professional quality photos and B-roll available.
Video available on site.
KENORA, ON, July 13 /CNW/ - A hundred Grassy Narrows supporters from
across North America are shutting down the TransCanada Highway in Northern
Ontraio in solidarity with the Grassy Narrows' call to halt clearcut logging
by Weyerhaeuser Corp. and Abitibi Consolidated Inc. on their traditional lands
in the boreal forest.
Supporters erected a 30 foot tall tripod on the highway and perched on
the top, while others locked themselves to cement filled oil drums and even
the axle of a Weyerhaeuser log truck. The action stopped log trucks carrying
hardwood trees logged on Grassy Narrows traditional territory on their way to
the Weyerhaeuser Trus Joist Timberstrand mill in Kenora. Their banners read
"Save Grassy Narrows' Boreal Forest," "Wake up Weyerhaeuser, Defend Native
Rights, Defend Ancient Forests," "Freedom for Grassy Narrows; No logging
without consent."
For over a decade Grassy Narrows has been working to end clearcut logging
on their Traditional Territory. The Ontario McGuinty government, Weyerhaeuser
and Abitibi failed to respond to years of official complaints, environmental
assessment requests, negotiations, and public protest which gave rise to a
blockade that has continued for more than three years. This action by the
Rainforest Action Network, Grassy Narrows community members, supporters from
other Native communities, and other supporters of social and ecological
justice from across North America marks the latest development in the growing
international response to a call to action issued by Grassy Narrows community
leaders in late February, 2006.
"Weyerhaeuser is destroying an ancient way of life and an ecosystem vital
to our plant's health while the McGuinty government fails to act to resolve
this crisis," said David Sone, an Organizer for Rainforest Action Network's
Old Growth campaign. "We stand proudly with the people of Grassy Narrows and
will continue to help protect the Boreal Forest and defend their Traditional
Territory."
"The clear-cutting of the land is an attack on our people," said Roberta
Keesick, a Grassy Narrows blockader, grandmother and trapper. "The land is the
basis of who we are. Our culture is a land-based culture, and the destruction
of the land is the destruction of our culture. Weyerhaeuser and the McGuinty
government don't want us on the land, they want us out of the way so they can
take the resources. We can't allow them to carry on with this cultural
genocide."
Last month, the Superior Court of Ontario ordered the province to pay
legal costs associated with a lawsuit challenging clear-cut logging on the
community's traditional lands. However, proceedings for the three- year old
legal action will not be heard until late 2008. Meanwhile, clearcutting
continues unabated. In a recent submission to the United Nations, Amnesty
International argued that current logging on Grassy Narrows' traditional land
violates the community's indigenous rights to self-determination and culture
and fails to meet international standards of "free prior and informed consent"
for development on traditional Indigenous lands.
For more information go to FreeGrassy.org
Rainforest Action Network campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants,
and the natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global
marketplace through education, grassroots organizing, and non-violent direct
action.
For further information: David Sone, Rainforest Action Network, (On
site): (416) 452-4199; Leah Henderson, (On Site): (647) 883-5983; Brianna Cayo
Cotter, RAN: (415) 305-1943; Joe B. Fobister (Grassy Narrows Spokesperson) -
work: (807) 925 2071, home: (807) 925 2745
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK - More on this organization _
News Releases_ (http://www.cnw.ca/en/releases/orgDisplay.cgi?okey=49635)
(1) _
Photo Archive_ (http://photos.newswire.ca/)
