Attachment #10: THE TORONTO STAR, Tuesday, November 26, 1991 ONTARIO FIRMS START BOYCOTT TO BACK LUBICON LAND CLAIM By George Oake Toronto Star EDMONTON Two Ontario companies are boycotting Daishowa Canada Ltd. to show support for the Lubicon Indian land dispute in northern Alberta. The two firms are Cultures Fresh Food Restaurants, a Toronto-based chain of 61 shops in Canada, and Knechtel Wholesale Grocers of Kitchener, Ont. They have written to the Friends of the Lubicon, a Toronto-based support group of the Alberta Indians, saying they'll no longer deal with the Japanese-owned forest products company. "After careful research into the current situation in Alberta, Cultures Fresh Food Restaurants has decided to stop using Daishowa products," wrote Cultures executive Michael Washinushi in a letter to Friends of the Lubicon. Frank Rooke, buyer for Knechtel Corp., took a similar position yesterday in a letter to Friends of the Lubicon, which is organizing the boycott. "I have had time to read both sides of the problem and I have to side with the Friends of the Lubicon," Rooke wrote. "Japan carefully manages their forests using selective logging, while the Japanese-owned Daishowa company is seemingly allowing clear-cutting in Alberta on Lubicon land." Ho-Lee-Chow Restaurants, a Toronto-based chain of 23 restaurants, already has stopped dealing with Daishowa. Operations manager Paul Coffey said many of the company's employees are sympathetic with the plight of the Lubicon. "I would have felt very uncomfortable dealing with a company like that, but we had already made a move away from them," he told The Star yesterday. Daishowa Canada President Tom Hamaoka, reached at his Vancouver office yesterday, said he was dismayed by the boycott. Hamaoka added his company had agreed not to log on the disputed lands this winter, while urging provincial and federal governments to settle the 50- year old dispute. "Maybe they're trying to put pressure on Daishowa to get a settlement with government," Hamaoka suggested in a telephone interview from Vancouver. "Unfortunately, we have nothing to negotiate." Daishowa Canada Ltd. has logging rights in a 29,0000-square-kilometre (11,200-square-mile) area, some of which is on disputed Lubicon land northwest of Edmonton. The 500-member Lubicon band has tried to negotiate a reserve from federal and provincial governments for more than 50 years. In 1989, Ottawa offered $45 million and 246 square kilometres (95 square miles) of land. The Lubicon want $170 million and iron-clad guarantees of mineral rights in the oil-rich lands. Band members have taken their case to the United nations as well as staged demonstrations in Europe and Japan to publicize their case. Daishowa was caught in the crossfire after it negotiated a deal with the Alberta government for forest rights in the mid-eighties. The Lubicon felt they were left out of the agreement that concerned their disputed land. Now the Toronto-based Friends of the Lubicon say Daishowa's commitment to forego logging on the disputed lands for one winter is not good enough. Kevin Thomas, a spokesperson for the Friends of the Lubicon, said the company had reneged on a previous commitment to stay out of disputed lands until a deal was forged. * * * * * Attachment #11: THE TORONTO STAR, Sunday, December 22, 1991, Letter to the Editor from Kevin Thomas, Friends of the Lubicon, Toronto, ONT A STRANGE DEFINITION OF INNOCENCE Tom Hamaoka, vice-president of Daishowa Canada Ltd., seems to think he can play innocent victim in our current campaign in support of the Lubicon Lake Nation's land rights. On Nov. 26, The Star quoted Hamaoka saying, "Maybe they're trying to put pressure on Daishowa to get a settlement with government." The Friends of the Lubicon are organizing a boycott of Daishowa for the simple and obvious fact...that Daishowa's plans to clear-cut unceded Lubicon lands in northern Alberta are a direct threat to the very survival of this aboriginal community. Period. Daishowa bought leases to cut on unceded Lubicon territories from the provincial government knowing full well that the province's title to the land was contested. Then, despite having made an agreement on March 7, 1988, with the Lubicon Nation not to cut on unceded Lubicon lands until a settlement of their land rights had been negotiated, Daishowa broke the agreement, alternately claiming that this agreement didn't exist, or that it did exist but it didn't apply to their subsidiaries, that it exists but that they only agreed to hold off until the (totally unrelated) Grimshaw accord was negotiated in late 1988, ad infinitum. Daishowa has plans to clear-cut vast sections of unceded aboriginal land and is unwilling to make the clear ethical decision to hold off operations until a land rights settlement has been reached between the Lubicon Lake Nation and both levels of government. This vast clear-cutting operation will destroy what little is left of the Lubicon people's lands and society. There will be nothing left to negotiate over if Daishowa is allowed to go ahead. If that's the position of an "innocent third party" then Hamaoka has a strange definition of innocence. * * * * * Attachment #12: November 27, 1991, letter from Native Women's Association of Canada to Friends of the Lubicon (Toronto) RE: "STOP THE GENOCIDE -- BOYCOTT DAISHOWA" On behalf of the Native Women's Association of Canada, I would like to confirm our support to the Lubicon Lake Cree Nation in the Daishowa Boycott. The Native Women's Association of Canada has always extended their support for the Lubicon people in their struggle to regain title to their traditional territory. The Native Women's Association of Canada will send a message to its members and all aboriginal/non-aboriginal people to boycott Daishowa Products because of their plan to clear cut the land and destroy the Lubicon Lake community and the Lubicon Lake Cree Nation. The NWAC condemns this environmental destruction to our precious Mother Earth. Sincerely, Gail Stacey Moore, Speaker * * * * * Attachment #13: Transcript of CBC Radio News Broadcast (7:30 A.M.) Thursday, November 28, 1991 CBC News The Lubicon Indians and Canada's largest Indian group, the Assembly of First Nations, are announcing a boycott of the Daishowa Paper Company. Daishowa operates a pulp mill near Peace River. The Alberta Government has given the company rights to cut timber on land the Lubicon Indians say is their historical hunting grounds. The Lubicons are threatening to boycott any company that uses paper products made by Daishowa. The boycott is being organized by the Lubicon support group in Toronto called Friends of the Lubicon. Last week an Ontario chain of restaurants announced it wasn't buying any more paper supplies from Daishowa. CBC News has learned that another restaurant will join the boycott along with the YWCA in Toronto and an Ontario grocery company. The official announcement will be made in Ottawa in a few hours. * * * * * Attachment #14: November 28, 1991, Press Release from National Association of Japanese Canadians Delivered by Sachiko Okuda, Chair, NAJC Human Rights Committee The National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC) lends its support to the boycott of Daishowa paper products coordinated by the Friends of the Lubicon. The NAJC is the body which, in September of 1988, was successful in obtaining redress for Japanese Canadians from the federal government. As an organization with a strong human rights orientation, the NAJC is committed to collective action for a better Canada and a world free from racism, poverty and inequality. The purpose of the boycott announced today is to obtain from Daishowa a public and clear commitment that it and its subsidiaries will immediately cease clear cutting operations and any plans to commence such operations on unceded Lubicon territory. This position reflects the grave concern that the NAJC has over the environmental consequences that such clear cutting operations represent. But of even greater importance is the concern of the NAJC about the long- term, destructive effects that such action will have on the Lubicons themselves, and their very existence as a people. The NAJC registers its strong opposition to the unyielding position taken by both the Alberta and federal governments in their negotiations with the Lubicon nation over the land in dispute. We urge the Alberta and federal governments to resume, without delay, negotiations with the Lubicon nation and to work with the Lubicons for the resolution of their land claim. * * * * * Attachment #15: Transcript of CBC Radio News Broadcast (12:30 P.M.) Thursday, November 28, 1991 Phil Henry, CBC News The Lubicon Indians of northern Alberta are taking their land claim struggle to the streets of Toronto. In Ottawa today a coalition of Lubicon support groups announced a boycott of the giant Pizza Pizza chain. Pizza Pizza uses paper products made by Daishowa, the forestry company the Lubicons say plans to clear-cut their forests. Rick Grant has the story. Rick Grant, CBC, Ottawa The Lubicons have been trying for years to get Ottawa and Alberta to agree to a reserve. The Lubicons also claim control over thousands of hectares of forest. So far nothing has worked. But three years ago the Lubicon got agreement with the Japanese forestry firm Daishowa not to log on land claimed by the Indians. Chief Bernard Ominayak says that Daishowa has broken that agreement now and is clear-cutting his land. Ominayak says the boycott of Daishowa products is designed to stop the company from logging, but also to force government to return to the bargaining table. Chief Bernard Ominayak, Lubicon Lake Indian Nation We cannot afford to sit back and watch everybody steal our resources while governments benefit from those resources and our people are forced onto welfare. Grant And Ominayak has the support of the Assembly of First Nations. The National Chief, Ovide Mercredi, is promising a national campaign of Native civil disobedience if negotiations don't resume. National Chief Ovide Mercredi, Assembly of First Nations It doesn't have to be that if the government listens. But the problem is your governments are not listening. Grant Mercredi wouldn't reveal details of the national campaign but said there would be no violence under any circumstances and no damage to private property. Rick Grant, CBC News, Ottawa. * * * * * Attachment #16: THE EDMONTON SUN, Friday, November 29, 1991 NATIVES TARGET PIZZA COMPANY OTTAWA: A national boycott of a massive Japanese corporation and an Ontario pizza chain was launched yesterday in support of Alberta's Lubicon Cree. The campaign was sprung by the Assembly of First Nations, the National Association of Japanese Canadians, the Aboriginal Rights Coalition of church groups and the Toronto-based Friends of the Lubicons. The boycott is aimed at preventing paper products giant Daishowa Canada from logging any of the 10,000 sq. km. of territory claimed by the Lubicons as traditional land until the band wins a settlement. The coalition wants businesses to stop buying Daishowa paper products. Yesterday it urged a boycott against Ontario's 230-outlet Pizza Pizza chain, which refused to cancel its contract for small paper bags. Pizza Pizza's executive director Lorne Austin said he was "totally shocked" by the boycott call. * * * * * Attachment #17: THE TORONTO STAR, Friday, November 29, 1991 LUBICON STRUGGLE SPARKS BOYCOTT CALL OF METRO PIZZA CHAIN By William Walker Toronto Star OTTAWA A Toronto-based lobby group is asking Metro residents to boycott Pizza Pizza outlets this weekend if they sympathize with the plight of Alberta's Lubicon Cree. The move is part of a new political strategy by the Lubicon to stop clear- cut logging on the northern Alberta lands they claim. Pizza Pizza is the target of the Toronto-based Friends of the Lubicon because it buys paper products from the Japanese multinational giant Daishowa Paper Ltd. Daishowa has been locked in a fierce battle with the Lubicon since 1988 over the company's clear-cuts under a forest management agreement the company signed with the Alberta government. "We're asking people not to purchase Pizza Pizza products until Pizza Pizza stops using Daishowa paper products," said organizer Ed Bianchi. The Lubicon blame the federal government for failing to settle their claim to roughly 4,050 hectares (10,000 acres). The Friends of the Lubicon will picket a Pizza Pizza outlet at Yonge and Elm Sts. at noon tomorrow as the first strike in its demand for a national boycott of Daishowa products. To end the boycott, the Lubicon want a written agreement from Daishowa stating it will not cut forests on Lubicon land until the and claim is settled. If the claim is won, as the Lubicon expect, such cutting would likely be prohibited. Some companies contacted by Friends of the Lubicons have voluntarily dropped Daishowa products as requested, but Pizza Pizza is one of about 10 firms that have not yet responded. Lorn Austin, executive director of Pizza Pizza Ltd., told the Star that he doesn't have an answer for the Lubicon because he doesn't have all the facts yet. "My understanding is that Daishowa is applying pressure to both levels of government to resolve the situation (of the land claim)," Austin said. "But I also understand they (Daishowa) haven't violated any agreements." He said Pizza Pizza only uses Daishowa products for the paper bags that cans of soft drinks and other products are delivered in. The company's pizza boxes are made of recycled paper supplied by Atlantic Packaging. Earlier this week, Daishowa Canada President Tom Hamaoka told The Star's George Oake he was dismayed by the boycott plan. Hamaoka added his company had agreed not to log on the disputed lands this winter, while urging provincial and federal governments to settle the 50- year old dispute. * * * * * Attachment #18: THE EDMONTON JOURNAL, Friday, November 29, 1991 LUBICON BACKERS TO BOYCOTT PIZZA CHAIN ONLY DAISHOWA PAPER PRODUCTS USED ARE BEVERAGE BAGS, PIZZA PIZZA SAYS Bob Cox The Canadian Press OTTAWA Supporters of the Lubicon Indians say they'll press the Alberta band's bid for a land-claim settlement by boycotting a major pizza chain that uses Daishowa paper products. "We're asking people not to purchase Pizza Pizza products until Pizza Pizza stops using Daishowa products," Ed Bianchi, of the Toronto-based Friends of the Lubicon, said Thursday. Daishowa owns an Alberta pulp mill and has logging rights in an area claimed by the Lubicon Cree. The company has promised not to take logs from there this winter. Bianchi said demonstrators would picket a Toronto Pizza Pizza outlet Saturday. The group is awaiting responses from 10 other firms -- which Bianchi wouldn't name -- before deciding whether to boycott them. Companies including Cultures Restaurants, Ho-Lee-Chow Restaurants and Knechtel Wholesale Grocers, have agreed not to use Daishowa products. Lorn Austin, executive director of Pizza Pizza, said the company is being unfairly singled out because of its high profile. The only Daishowa products used by Pizza Pizza are paper beverage bags and Pizza Pizza would stop using them if Daishowa began logging in the Lubicon area, said Austin. The Lubicon want a written commitment from Daishowa to not cut trees or buy timber from the disputed territory until a settlement is negotiated with Ottawa. The area is 350 km north of Edmonton. "What we need is a clear understanding, an understanding in writing, from Daishowa prior to any calling off of the boycott," said Lubicon chief Bernard Ominayak. Tom Hamaoka, Daishowa Canada general manager, said the company would give a written commitment for this winter, but can't make a long-term promise because of agreements with smaller firms and the Alberta government. "For me to unilaterally state that we will refrain from logging for an indefinite period would be in breach of my forest management agreement with the province of Alberta," said Hamaoka. He said the boycott "is clearly a well-orchestra media campaign aimed at discrediting Daishowa" in the hopes the company will pressure governments to negotiate a settlement. But he said only the Lubicon and governments can reach a deal. "They're unfairly implicating us in an issue which clearly we can't resolve." Ottawa last offered the band $45 million and 246 square km of land in 1989. The band refused. The Indian Affairs Department is reviewing a Lubicon proposal to re-open negotiations. * * * * * Attachment #19: TRANSCRIPT OF CBLT TV (CBC Local) News Broadcast (11:30 P.M.), Saturday, November 30, 1991 Noelle Richardson, CBLT A Toronto-based group held a protest demonstration against a popular local fast food chain today, and it was all over a giant Japanese multinational company. It was the Pizza Pizza chain that was on the receiving end of today's demonstration. Protestors representing a group called the Friends of the Lubicon and the National Association of Japanese Canadians were handing out leaflets which advocated a boycott of Pizza Pizza. The group wants the chain to stop using products from the Daishowa pulp and paper mill. The boycott is aimed at preventing Daishowa from logging land which is claimed by the Lubicons as part of their historical nation. Pizza Pizza officials refused to go on camera to explain their side but spokesman Lorn Austen said by phone his company backs Daishowa in its negotiations with the Lubicon. Daishowa, for its part, has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday (December 3) to explain, what they say, is a misunderstanding. * * * * * Attachment #20: December 02, 1991, letter from Friends of the Lubicon (Toronto) to Pizza Pizza in Toronto Dear Mr. Austin: Chris Sonnen informed me on Saturday, November 30 that should we provide Pizza Pizza with proof that Daishowa had been clear-cutting on unceded Lubicon territories, Pizza Pizza would cancel their contract for paper products from Daishowa. Enclosed is a briefing on Daishowa activities in Lubicon territories. I've included for your information newspaper articles detailing the granting of the original timber leases to Daishowa and subsequent developments, including the verbal agreement between the Lubicon Lake Nation and Daishowa that no cutting would be done on unceded Lubicon territories until after a land rights settlement was reached between the Lubicon Nation and both levels of government, and the breaking of that agreement in November 1990 when Daishowa subsidiary Brewster Construction began clearcutting in unceded Lubicon territories. Also enclosed are photographs of clear-cuts on Lubicon territories from Brewster and Buchanan Lumber's activities last winter from both the Japan Times Weekly and the Lubicon Nation. Since these are faxed copies, we can make available actual photographs within a few days should you require them. I should remind you that while Daishowa is currently playing the "innocent third party" they negotiated their Forest Management Agreement with the Alberta Government knowing full well that title to the area was disputed, having met with Lubicon chief Bernard Ominayak fully 17 months previous to signing the FMA. Daishowa has clearly broken the terms of their March 7, 1988, agreement with the Lubicon lake Nation and has been clear-cutting on unceded aboriginal territory. In fact, up until we began to mobilize a boycott of Daishowa products, the company was planning to continue clearcut operations this winter. Only when public pressure was applied did they change their plans for this winter. It is for this obvious reason that the cancellation of contracts with Daishowa is necessary: such a move may be the only way of halting further destruction before it's too late. We will look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Sincerely, Kevin Thomas, Friends of the Lubicon * * * * * Attachment #21: December 4, 1991, letter from Survival International to Marubeni Paper Sales, Europe Dear Mr. Meares, Survival International has noted with interest the establishment in the United Kingdom of a subsidiary of Marubeni Paper Sales Europe GmbH. We are concerned that the close relationship between the Marubeni Corporation and the Daishowa Corporation may now lead to the importation into Britain of Daishowa pulp, paper or paper products. As you may be aware, the Daishowa Corporation's Canadian subsidiary, Daishowa Canada, is currently planning to engage in logging activities within the traditional territory of the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation. The Lubicon people have never ceded their territory to Canada and have been attempting since 1939 to persuade the Canadian Federal Government to set aside part of their traditional territory as a reserve. The Federal Government has refused to negotiate in good faith with the Lubicon people. In the absence of a treaty between the Lubicon people and the Federal Government, the Government of Alberta has acted contrary to international law in granting to Daishowa Canada a Forestry Management Agreement covering unceded Lubicon lands. We are also aware that Daishowa-Marubeni, a joint venture between Marubeni Corporation, your parent company, and Daishowa Paper, is currently considering the purchase of the bleached kraft pulp mill at Peace River, Alberta. It is to supply this pulp mill that Daishowa Canada, its current owner, has been planning to clear-cut forests in unceded Lubicon territory. Were Daishowa-Marubeni to proceed with this purchase, it would involve Marubeni subsidiaries even more closely in the injustice being perpetrated against the Lubicon people. Given this regrettable state of affairs, we hope that you will be able to give us a categorical assurance that, until a just and final settlement has been reached between the Canadian Government and the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation, no Daishowa products will be imported into the United Kingdom by Marubeni or its subsidiaries; and that should Marubeni Corporation participate in the purchase of the Peace River pulp mill, it will refuse to engage in or promote any logging activities within traditional Lubicon territory. Yours sincerely, Stephen Corry, Director General * * * * * Attachment #22: December 5, 1991, letter from THE BODY SHOP to Friends of the Lubicon (Toronto) Dear Mr. Bianchi: I want to confirm that The Body Shop chose to remove Daishowa products from all of our Canadian stores in January of 1991 upon learning of the dispute between Daishowa Canada and the Lubicon Lake Cree Nation. Since that time we have not purchased additional Daishowa products and will not do so until the current situation is satisfactorily resolved. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Ian Yolles * * * * * Attachment #23: WINDSPEAKER, December 6, 1991 BOYCOTT UNDERWAY AGAINST DAISHOWA PRODUCTS By Cooper Langford Windspeaker Staff Writer OTTAWA Three Ontario-based companies have joined a boycott of Daishowa paper products that organizers hope will become a national campaign against the pulp and paper giant. "We are going to try to expand this," said Ed Bianchi, a spokesman for the Toronto-based groups Friends of the Lubicon, which is organizing the Ontario wing of the boycott. Lubicon supporters in Edmonton say a similar boycott call for Alberta will be made in the first half of December. "What you are going to see increasingly now is the public expression of what people have been working on for some time," Lubicon spokesman Fred Lennarson said. Boycott organizers say they will keep up the campaign until the company makes a "firm, public commitment" not to log on disputed Lubicon land. The Ontario boycott was announced at a recent press conference attended by Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Ovide Mercredi and Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak at the assembly's Ottawa headquarters. Native leaders called on the public to stop buying Pizza Pizza restaurant products because the company uses Daishowa paper for its soft drink bags. Pizza Pizza was the only company out of the four targeted by the Friends of the Lubicon not to support the boycott call. Restaurant chains Culture Fresh Food and Ho-Lee Chow's said they will stop using Daishowa products as soon a current stocks run out. (Ho Lee Chow representatives said their decision came before they were contacted by Friends of the Lubicon.) "I'm against clear cutting land," said Frank Rooke, a spokesman for Knetchel Grocery wholesalers, a company that serves 78 supermarkets in southern Ontario that will honor the boycott. "It's strange we're criticizing Brazil when we're doing the same thing in Canada." In Edmonton, Lubicon supporters are contacting Alberta companies identified as Daishowa customers and requesting they change their paper suppliers. Lennarson said boycott plans have been in the works since this summer across Canada as well as in Europe and Japan. So far, Daishowa appears to be avoiding direct reaction to the Ontario announcement. After speaking briefly with WINDSPEAKER, company officials faxed a news release reaffirming their position on the Lubicon. "While Daishowa Canada deeply regrets this land claim dispute, we cannot resolve it. This matter must be resolved by both levels of government and the Lubicons," the statement read. The company said it stands by its promise to stop buying wood harvested on land "of concern to the Lubicon." It also said it will not harvest timber in the disputed territory. No one has put a dollar estimate on the potential value of the Daishowa boycott. Organizers say money is far less an important issue than bad publicity with the current slump in the pulp market and Daishowa's on-going effort to sell its operation near Peace River. "I don't think the financial impact is the important thing. It's the publicity," said Lennarson. In related news, Solicitor-General Dick Fowler recently heaped blame on Lubicon advisors and chief Bernard Ominayak for delays in settling the outstanding land claim. In an interview with Standard Broadcast News, Fowler said Ominayak and his advisers have unfairly blocked a "very, very generous" settlement offer. "If he (Ominayak) was getting good advise I think this thing would have been settled a long time ago," Fowler said. "For whatever reason those people that are giving him advice continue to live in absolute and total comfort at what I presume to be very healthy incomes, while the Lubicon people that live in the area and are members of the band continue to suffer all the pains of poverty." * * * * * Attachment #24: THE EDMONTON JOURNAL, Friday, November 29, 1991, EDITORIAL ON WHOM THE BLAME FALLS It is offensive to hear Native Affairs Minister Dick Fowler blaming the Lubicon Lake Cree for their own poverty. Every man, woman and child in Little Buffalo would be wealthy today if the band had owned mineral rights in part of its traditional hunting and trapping area, and had collected the energy royalties that flowed continuously into the coffers of the province of Alberta through the 1970s and 1980s. Even without mineral rights, the Lubicon people could have made a decent living through the same period if the Alberta government had moved forcefully to protect their trapping area from overzealous energy exploration crews. This did not happen. Instead, the Alberta government extracted millions of dollars in royalties from the northern wilderness between the Peace and Athabasca rivers for two decades and returned almost none of the wealth to the original inhabitants of seven isolated communities. Until 1988, the province did everything it possibly could to undermine the legitimate Lubicon claim. Fowler is free to blame Chief Bernard Ominayak for refusing Ottawa's "very, very generous" land claim settlement although the $45-million package is insufficient to build a self-supporting community from the ground up. But the minister can't deny one painful truth: The Lubicon Lake Cree are poor because the Alberta government made them poor. * * * * * Attachment #25: WINDSPEAKER, December 6, 1991 EDITORIAL NATIVES SHOULD CONSIDER BOYCOTT The fax machine at WINDSPEAKER was busy last week. Someone -- we're not absolutely sure who -- was sending us copies of letters from Ontario companies planning to join a boycott of Daishowa paper products. Then came the Friends of the Lubicon boycott press conference announcement and a letter from Edmonton New Democrat MP Ross Harvey calling for a United Nations review of the Lubicon dispute. Both notices arrived within an hour of each other. The people organizing the Daishowa boycott have their act together. This much preparation for news announcements usually generates some suspicions at newspapers. It's simply a gut reaction to people actively seeking publicity. But the Daishowa boycott is an important story. Whether the boycott succeeds or fails, it will be strong measure of the depth of public support for the Lubicon. Already three Ontario companies have joined forces to boycott Daishowa, and a fourth is considering it. Toronto's Pizza Pizza shop says if the Lubicons can prove Daishowa is cutting on the disputed land they will terminate their contract with Daishowa. Some people might argue it is unfair to embroil third parties in a dispute between a Native community, the provincial government and to a greater or lesser extent, Daishowa. But boycotts can work. And if the Native community's bottom line support rests with Lubicon, then the community should be prepared to back up that support. Even if that means dragging people not directly involved in land rights issues into the picture. The Lubicon have shown that even a little guy can carry a big stick. That stick, however, is only as big as the public support it represents. If you support the Lubicon land claim, honor the boycott. You'll be showing the community strength behind land rights issues across the country. It's high time. The Lubicons have been ignored for far too long. * * * * * Attachment #26: PRESBYTERIAN RECORD, MISSION UPDATE, December 1991 EXCERPTS FROM AN OPEN LETTER TO PREMIER GETTY FROM THE NATIONAL CHRISTIAN COUNCIL IN JAPAN by Munetoshi Maejima, Gen. Sect'y ...As Japanese citizens, we realize the destruction our transnational corporations cause internationally. For short-term personal and national profits, they willingly sacrifice the futures of our and all people's children and grandchildren by irreparably destroying and polluting forests, seas and other areas which are necessary for a healthy world ecosystem. Daishowa utilizes obsolete harvesting and pulp processing technologies in its northern Alberta operations. Both the clearcutting of forests as well as the bleach kraft processing method are extremely hazardous to the environment. We find it offensive that Daishowa would use technology which is illegal in Japan in order to profit from polluting and destroying our neighbor's environment. We Japanese must take responsibility for reigning in such reckless and selfish behavior on the part of our corporations. In addition, we want to emphasize that while Japanese people sincerely wish to develop mutually beneficial economic relations with the Albertan people, we cannot build an economy based upon the oppression of minorities such as the Lubicon. To do so would be contrary to all principles of economic justice and can only lead to further problems in the future. We believe that sustainable, just and participatory development of our resources is not only possible but necessary in a world increasingly threatened by rampant overconsumption and willful pollution of our environment. In addition, we believe that in the case of Alberta, positive Canadian- Japanese economic development cannot proceed without first the Lubicon land rights issue being resolved in a just and fair manner. Therefore, we Japanese citizens in solidarity with the Lubicon people and Alberta citizens, urge you to use all means available to: (1) Stop Daishowa Canada and any of its subsidiaries from logging within the disputed territory until the Lubicon land rights issue has been justly resolved; (2) Negotiate a land rights settlement between the Lubicon and both levels of government which is fair and just for all parties; (3) Require that Daishowa Canada and its subsidiaries utilize timber harvesting, reforestation, and pulp processing technologies at least comparable to those required by environmental protection laws in Japan. We believe that these measures are in the best interests of the Albertan and Japanese people for building a just and mutually beneficial relationship of economic cooperation and development. * * * * * Attachment #27: THE EDMONTON JOURNAL, Saturday, December 7, 1991 BOYCOTT HURTING DAISHOWA LUBICON TALKS MAY RESUME Paul Marck Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON A countrywide boycott of Daishowa forestry products appears to be playing a role in the reopening of negotiations for a Lubicon Indian land claim. Tom Hamaoka, Daishowa Canada vice-president, said from Vancouver Friday the week-old boycott of his company's paper products is hurting. "It's gotten to a stage now where, yes, we are feeling the economics...at least our eastern operations are." Daishowa, with a pulp mill in Peace River, has a forestry management agreement with the provincial government to log lands that include territory claimed by the Lubicon. The company has agreed to keep off disputed lands this winter. Hamaoka met Indian Affairs officials in Ottawa last week, urging them to settle with the Lubicon. Federal Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon then sent a letter to Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak, inviting him and Alberta Solicitor General Dick Fowler, minister responsible for native affairs, to meet in early February. Siddon's letter of Nov. 29 said there is "sufficient common ground for renewed substantive discussions" over the land claim. Negotiations have stalled for three years with the federal government's "final offer" of $45 million in cash in response to the band's request for $170 million. All parties agree on a proposed 246-square-km reserve between Lubicon Lake and Buffalo Lake, east of Peace River. Thursday, Premier Don Getty met Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and discussed various issues, including the Lubicon problem. At a joint news conference afterwards, Getty said he offered Mulroney insights and suggestions to "close the gap" for a Lubicon settlement. Neither leader would elaborate. Ominayak welcomes Getty's help but doesn't know what it's about. "No, I haven't heard what was said, I haven't heard at all," Ominayak said in Edmonton Friday. "If Mr. Getty is encouraging the prime minister to get the matter dealt with, we certainly appreciate that," Ominayak said. Meanwhile, Daishowa's Hamaoka couldn't estimate how much the boycott is hurting the Japanese multinational company, but a couple of restaurant and grocery chains are known to have cancelled or let lapse contracts for paper products like bags and napkins. "With the boycott I thought I'd seize the opportunity to see the Indian Affairs Department and I reiterated our position again that we would like the government to get involved more directly in trying to resolve this matter," Hamaoka said. "The opportunity presented itself for the minister to move...I'm encouraged that both levels of government and the Lubicons are planning to meet...Daishowa can't resolve it." Ominayak deserves credit for his persistence in seeking a settlement when government has been unwilling to move, Hamaoka added. Band advisor Fred Lennarson said Getty could be pushing Mulroney for a settlement due to land-claim pressures on business, such as the Daishowa boycott and the Quebec Crees' bid to block hydro development in that province. It's hard to show that Canada is open for business with outstanding native issues blocking development and throwing a scare into industry, Lennarson said. The Daishowa boycott, kicked off by Toronto-based Friends of the Lubicon at a First Nations conference Nov. 28, has spread internationally, Lennarson said. There are lobby efforts against Daishowa going on in Japan, Switzerland, Germany, France and Australia. "I really don't think the amount of money they're losing is a big problem," Lennarson said. But Daishowa is having financial problems due to poor market conditions worldwide. "I think adverse publicity is creating major problems for them." Ominayak sent a response to Siddon Friday, cautiously accepting his invitation to reopen negotiations. No direct negotiations between the 500-member band, at Little Buffalo Lake, 350-km northwest of Edmonton, and the federal government have taken place since 1988. The Lubicon and the province haven't had formal negotiations over land or resources since then, either. * * * * * Attachment #28: ALBERTA NATIVE NEWS, December, 1991 LUBICON CHIEF TO MEET WITH SIDDON AND FOWLER OMINAYAK AND BAND ADVISER REACT TO FOWLER'S MEDIA ATTACH By Dale Stelter An early February meeting has been set up between Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak, federal Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon, and Alberta Native Affairs Minister Dick Fowler, to seek a settlement of the Lubicon's decades-long land rights dispute. On December 2nd, Ominayak received an invitation to the meeting in a faxed letter from Siddon -- shortly before he began receiving calls from reporters about the letter. Ominayak confirmed his attendance at the meeting in a December 4th letter to Siddon, in which he also responded to inaccuracies in Siddon's letter regarding the Lubicon's counter-proposal to the take-it-or-leave-it settlement which the federal government put forth in early 1989. The federal offer would provide the Lubicon with up to $45 million, and 246 square kilometres of land. The Lubicon have not accepted that offer, and are asking for approximately $170 million to go with the land. The Lubicon maintain that this amount is essential if they are to build a self- sufficient community and ensure control over their own lives, after destruction of their traditional economy and way of life by oil and gas development. There is speculation that in calling for the meeting, the federal government is reacting to the effectiveness of the Lubicon's efforts to stop Daishowa Canada from logging on their traditional lands until their land rights dispute is settled. Those efforts include the national boycott of Daishowa products. On December 5th, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Premier Don Getty met in private in Edmonton. In a news conference after their meeting, Getty said that he offered advice to Mulroney on achieving a settlement with the Lubicon. No other details were given. The Lubicon are approaching the meeting with Siddon and Fowler with caution. In his letter to Siddon, Ominayak wrote that "In the hope that you and your Provincial counterpart are finally serious about achieving a settlement of Lubicon land rights -- in spite of all that you've both been doing lately to suggest otherwise -- I look forward to a meeting with you and Mr. Fowler in early February." Ominayak was referring to, for example, the broadside delivered at him and Lubicon advisors by Fowler. The EDMONTON JOURNAL reported that in an interview with Standard Broadcast News, Fowler said that Ominayak and his advisers are to blame for blocking settlement of the Lubicon's long-standing land rights dispute, and that the Lubicon have been offered a better settlement than any other band in Alberta. Ominayak responded to Fowler's remarks by saying that "The Alberta and federal governments have made great efforts to undermine the leadership of the Lubicon people. They're the ones who have forced our people into the situation we're in today." Band adviser Fred Lennarson said that aiming personal attacks at him and at Ominayak are an attempt to draw attention away from the main issue of settling the Lubicon's land rights dispute. He outright rejected Fowler's suggestion that the federal government's settlement offer to the Lubicon is better than all others in Alberta, pointing out that even Premier Getty had some time ago labelled the federal government's offer as deficient. * * * * * Attachment #29: THE EDMONTON JOURNAL, Tuesday, December 10, 1991 PEOPLE, NOT PROFITS, DRIVE DESIRE FOR LUBICON SETTLEMENT, GETTY SAYS Marilyn Moysa Journal Staff Writer Edmonton Premier Don Getty says it's the welfare of the Lubicon Lake Indians -- not Daishowa -- that's fuelling his drive for the northwest Alberta band. "I haven't looked at this issue at all from the corporate point of view," Getty said Monday, contradicting statements made last Friday by band adviser Fred Lennarson. Lennarson said Getty may have been moved to raise the land claim issue with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney when the two met in Edmonton last Thursday because of boycott pressures on Daishowa. But Getty said Monday that Daishowa officials didn't pressure him prior to the meeting and that Lennarson was "incorrect". "I've looked at it only from the people point of view, which is the band, and that's what drives me," he said. "It was my own initiative because I care about the band." Daishowa's $550-million bleached kraft mill in Peace River was the first major forestry project announced in Getty's economic diversification strategy. Before the mill was given a speedy environmental review, Getty called the project an important cornerstone in helping to expand the province's economy. Friday, Daishowa Canada vice-president Tom Hamaoka admitted a week-long countrywide boycott of Daishowa's products was hurting the Japanese multi- national company enough that it had urged Ottawa to settle with the band. The boycott was launched despite the fact that Daishowa -- which has a forestry management agreement with the provincial government to log lands that include territory claimed by the Lubicons -- has agreed to stay off the disputed lands this winter. Negotiations between the federal government and the 500-member band stalled three years ago after Ottawa tabled a "final offer" of $45 million in cash. The band is seeking more than $170 million. During his Thursday meeting with Mulroney, Getty said he'd offered suggestions that would "close the gap" on a settlement. However, neither leader would elaborate further. The fact his proposal to Mulroney came a day before Daishowa admitted it had urged Ottawa to settle the land claim is "not related," Getty said. "Daishowa never talked to me -- nor did anyone -- about it," he said. The premier refused to disclose further details of his proposal to the prime minister. Nor has he been able to fill Lubicon band chief Bernard Ominayak in on it. "Out of necessity, it was confidential," he said. "But it was an attempt to solve it." Getty said he has no current plans to meet with Ominayak. "But if the chief in any way felt it would be helpful for me to meet with him, I'd enjoy meeting with him. "He's a friend," he said.