Message #1122 "Indian_Affairs"
Date: 06-Feb-92 05:53
From: Roland Leitner
To:   All
Subj: The Daishowa Boycott

* Original Area: ABORIG
* Original From: Uucp (1:105/42)
* Original To  : Aboriginal Rights (1:134/32)

From  m2xenix!lion.hsc.ucalgary.ca!leitner
From: leitner@lion.hsc.ucalgary.ca (Roland Leitner)
To:   Aboriginal.Rights@f32.n134.z1.fidonet.org
Date: Sun, 26 Jan 92 09:39:25 MST

                                            Lubicon Lake Indian Nation
                                            Little Buffalo Lake, AB
                                            403-629-3945
                                            FAX:  403-629-3939
 
                                            Mailing address:
                                            3536 - 106 Street
                                            Edmonton, AB T6J 1A4
                                            403-436-5652
                                            FAX:  403-437-0719
 
 
January 13, 1992
 
A major international campaign is well under way to block Daishowa from
clear-cutting unceded Lubicon territory until there's at least a settlement
of Lubicon land rights and a harvesting agreement negotiated with the
Lubicon people respecting Lubicon wildlife and environmental concerns. 
Enclosed for your information are copies of press statements, media
coverage, correspondence and other related materials. 
 
In addition to the primarily Canadian activities described in the enclosed
materials, the Lubicon office in Edmonton has received reports of growing
support in Japan, a second major demonstration in Australia and actions of
various kinds planned for cities across Europe during the last week of
January.  Taken together these activities are clearly having an impact upon
Daishowa and both levels of Canadian Government.  Daishowa is no longer
simply insisting upon its supposed "right" to clear-cut Lubicon trees.  And
both levels of Canadian Government are alternately attacking the Lubicons
and hinting at possible settlement flexibility.  
 
A Canadian boycott of Daishowa paper products is centered largely in
Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary but is rapidly spreading across the country. 
10,000 copies of boycott materials prepared by Edmonton boycott organizers
have already been distributed and over 100,000 more have been requested by
people wishing to support the boycott. 
 
Two offices in Tokyo are reportedly working around the clock to organize
what is being described as the first major boycott of a Japanese company by
Japanese people. 
 
The latest demonstration in Australia took place on December 15th at
Daishowa's woodchip mill in Eden, New South Wales.  It was organized by a
variety of groups including the Wilderness Society and Greenpeace. 
 
During the Australian demonstration a parameter fence was breached, a tall
tower scaled and a 45 foot banner unfurled reading "DAISHOWA: THE NAME
BEHIND GLOBAL FOREST DESTRUCTION".  A speaker from the Canberra Branch of
the Wilderness Society deplored Daishowa's proposed clear-cutting of
unceded Lubicon land, condemned the underhanded tactics being employed
against the Lubicons and demanded immediate recognition and respect for
Lubicon land rights.  There were reportedly a number of arrests. 
 
In Dusseldorf on January 27th there will be a press conference at City Hall
and demonstrations at the offices of Daishowa/Marubeni and the Canadian
Consulate General.  Faced with the growing international furore Marubeni
has now backed out of negotiations to purchase Daishowa's Peace River Pulp
Mill but is still involved with Daishowa in other ventures.  Participating
organizations in the Dusseldorf demonstrations include Greenpeace, BUND,
the Society for Endangered Peoples, the Big Mountain Action Group (BMAG),
the Belgium-based Coordinated Indigenous Affairs Working Groups (KWIA), the
Luxembourg-based Iwerliewen and the Innu Support Group from the
Netherlands.  Following the demonstrations there will be informational
workshops involving the participating organizations and representatives of
the German Green Party.
 
On January 28th there will be a demonstration at the office of the Canadian
Consulate General in Brussels as well as at the Belgium subsidiary of the
German Feldmuhle Corporation.  The Feldmuhle Corporation is a major
Daishowa customer in Europe.  The demonstrations in Belgium are being
organized by KWIA.  (KWIA will also continue their related lobbying efforts
at the European Parliament.)  
 
On January 29th there will be demonstrations at the Canadian Consulate
General in Munich organized by the BMAG, the Munich Society for Endangered
Peoples and the Institute for Applied Ecology, Action and Anthropology
(INFOE).
 
On January 30th there will be a demonstration in Berlin at the office of
the Canadian Consulate General organized by the Association for the Support
of North American Indians and Greenpeace.
 
On January 31st there will be a demonstration at the Japanese Embassy in
Vienna as well as demonstrations at the offices of Canadian Consulate
Generals in both Bern and Vienna.  The Bern demonstration is being
organized by Incomindios.  The Vienna demonstrations are being organized by
the Working Circle for North American Indians (AKIN) and the Austrian
Society for Endangered Peoples.  (AKIN has also planned a number of "public
events" for the third week of January to publicize the plight of the
Lubicon.)
 
Additionally during the last week of January there will be a demonstration
at the Canadian High Commission in London organized by Catholic Action for
Native America (CAFNA), and 1,000 letters from concerned Europeans will be
presented to Daishowa officials by the coalition of concerned church and
human rights groups who organized last September's demonstration in
Vancouver. 
 
Daishowa has responded to all of the above in two ways, one clearly 
calculated to preserve maximum Daishowa prerogative and the other intended
to try and erode Lubicon support -- especially in Alberta. 
 
 
First Daishowa has now announced that they'll agree to stay out of the
unceded Lubicon territory but only this year, coming up in typical Daishowa
fashion with a continually changing reason why they can't simply make a
commitment to stay out of the unceded Lubicon territory until there's a
settlement of Lubicon land rights and an agreement negotiated with the
Lubicon people regarding Lubicon wildlife and environmental concerns.  Most
recently Daishowa Vice President Tom Hamaoka told the Editorial Board of
the Edmonton Journal that "Daishowa can't make a commitment never to log
Lubicon lands because the size of the land remains unclear". That's of
course demonstrably untrue but telling the truth has never been Mr.
Hamaoka's long suit.  Rather Daishowa's objective is clearly to try and
convince people to drop the stop Daishowa campaign while at the same time
avoiding a public commitment which would make it difficult for Daishowa to
move in and clear-cut Lubicon trees just as soon as the pressure's off. 
The real message for people concerned over the plight of the Lubicon is
thus to keep up the pressure until there's either a settlement and
harvesting agreement, or until Daishowa publicly agrees to stay out of
unceded Lubicon territory pending a settlement and harvesting agreement. 
 
Secondly Daishowa has cancelled their 700 million dollar expansion plan
originally scheduled for 1993 and has warned that the stop Daishowa
campaign threatens not only Daishowa but development activity in Northern
Alberta generally.  This is of course only a variant of the "take-our-
marbles-and-go-home-if-you're-not-nice-to-us" tactic that Daishowa tried
unsuccessfully to pull on Edmonton Mayor Jan Reimer last October. 
Hopefully Albertans will see this thinly veiled threat for what it is and
will again forcefully reject the "development-at-any-cost" philosophy it
represents. Selling off the natural resources of the Province for a
pittance and polluting the hell out of the environment will of course
remain an option for Albertans whether or not Daishowa chooses to shut down
its 600 million dollar bleached kraft pulp mill and go home.  
 
 
 
                         *     *     *     *     *
 
