The Edmonton Sun, Wednesday, November 28, 1990 TORY "MISLEADING" ON LOGGING by Gord Bannerman Staff Writer The New Democrats say Forestry Minister LeRoy Fjordbotten has misled Albertans by saying no logging will be done on disputed land claimed by the Lubicons. ND environment critic John McInnis levelled the accusation yesterday during question period, prompting a quick denial from Fjordbotten. Fjordbotten also said it's "offensive" for McInnis to use the word "misleading" and asked him to retract it. McInnis refused. The exchange came after McInnis revealed a letter from Fjordbotten to an Edmonton resident promising that two Daishowa Canada Ltd. subsidiaries -- Brewster Construction Ltd. and Boucher Bros. Lumber Ltd -- "will not be logging in the area of concern this winter". McInnis said Brewster is logging in an area claimed by the 500-member band as traditional land and that the company was given a licence to do so by Fjordbotten's department. "He's misleading Albertans," McInnis said. Fjordbotten said Brewster's activity is about 100 km northeast of a 250-sq.- km area around Little Buffalo that the province agreed could be a Lubicon reserve. Little Buffalo is 360 km northwest of Edmonton. The minister said it would be "unrealistic" to prevent logging in all of the 10,000 sq. km that the band is claiming in its 50-year-old dispute with Ottawa. Outside the assembly Fjordbotten said land referred to in the letter was the 95-sq.-km tract agreed to by the province and admitted he could have been more specific. McInnis told reporters "all logging should be suspended on the disputed lands" and decisions on logging are being made by "little old men sitting around a room drawing out blocks on a map." He said it's up to the federal government to negotiate a settlement. "It's not up to Fjordbotten to draw a little tiny circle and claim, 'I'm going to say this is Lubicon land and we're going to log the rest of it'." House Speaker David Carter will likely rule today on whether the word "misleading" is unparliamentary. If found unparliamentary, McInnis will be asked by the Speaker to retract it. If he refuses, he could be ejected from the house. ***************************************************************************** The Edmonton Journal, Wednesday, November 28, 1990 LOGGING CONTINUES DESPITE VANDALISM Jac MacDonald and Roy Cook Journal Staff Writers Peace River Logging continues in an area claimed by the Lubicon Lake Band despite vandalism of equipment over the weekend, say Peace River RCMP. "They haven't left the area," Staff Sgt. Lynn Julyan said Tuesday. The investigation into the torching of logging equipment there is also continuing, Julyan said. Estimated total damage to equipment owned by Kool Bros. Contracting Ltd. is $20,500. Kool Bros. is working in the area under contract to Buchanan Lumber of High Prairie. Neither Buchanan owner Gordon Buchanan nor Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak could be reached for comment. Ominayak has not linked the arson to his band's unresolved land claim in the area. He has said companies operating inside the 10,000-sq.-km area claimed by the band would be subject to removal without notice unless they obtained authorization permits from the band. Workers for Brewster Construction Ltd., a subsidiary of Daishowa Canada Co. Ltd. are also continuing logging operations inside the Lubicon claim, said Jim Morrison, Daishowa spokesman. Brewster began clear-cutting 15-to 26-hectare stands of spruce and aspen Nov. 19 in an area of the Lubicon claim where the company has logged for 12 years. A letter dated the same day and signed by Forestry Minister LeRoy Fjordbotten said Brewster would not be logging in the "area of concern" this winter. Morrison said Brewster never decided to remain outside lands claimed by the Lubicon, only that it would not enter "new areas". In the letter to a Ms. A.S. Andrucson, Fjordbotten wrote he was responding on behalf of Premier Don Getty "regarding logging on lands claimed by the Lubicon Band." "You will be pleased to learn that the two companies in question -- Brewster Construction Ltd. and Boucher Bros. Lumber Ltd. -- will not be logging in the area of concern this winter. Neither will Daishowa Canada Ltd. since it never did plan to log this part of the forest management area until the winter of 1991-92," the letter says. Daishowa and the provincial government both "support this deferral of logging plans which will provide additional time for the Lubicon band and the federal government to conclude negotiations," Fjordbotten wrote. But Fjordbotten told reporters Tuesday he was unaware of Brewster's and Boucher's plans and said he didn't recall writing the letter. "Daishowa said that until the issue was resolved they themselves would not be logging on that land. I don't know about Brewster or Boucher." ************************************************************************ Transcript of CBC Radio News Broadcast (7:30 A.M.) Wednesday, November 28, 1990 Phil Henry, CBC News Alberta's Minister of Forestry admits a letter he wrote about logging on Lubicon land isn't clear. In the letter LeRoy Fjordbotten tells an Edmonton resident that there will be no logging this winter in what the Minister describes as "the area of concern". The Lubicon Indians don't want any logging on land they say is in their traditional hunting territory. The two companies working for the Daishowa pulp mill in Peace River are cutting trees on the land. In the Legislature yesterday New Democrat John McInnis accused the Minister of misleading Albertans. Outside the Legislature LeRoy Fjordbotten explained what he meant in his letter. LeRoy Fjordbotten, Alberta Forestry Minister The area of concern that I'm talking about in there is there was an area of concern right around the reserve. I don't believe there's any logging taking place in that area. The area that they're claiming though is a much broader area over all of northern Alberta. Henry Fjordbotten admitted the letter wasn't clear. He said he hoped he hadn't confused anyone. ************************************************************************ Transcript of CBC Radio News Broadcast (6:30 A.M.) Wednesday, November 28, 1990 Phil Henry, CBC News The Alberta New Democrats are accusing the Minister of Forestry of misleading Albertans. John McInnis says LeRoy Fjordbotten wrote a letter in which he says there'll be no logging on land which the Lubicon claim is their traditional territory. Fjordbotten admits he wrote the letter but says his comments were restricted to a small area of land. Linda Warford reports. Linda Warford, CBC News Logging is taking place on land claimed by the Lubicon Indians as their traditional hunting territory. John McInnis raised questions about it yesterday in the Legislature. He referred to a letter from Fjordbotten to an Edmonton resident. In it the letter said: "You will be pleased to learn that the two companies in question, Brewster Construction and Boucher Bros. Lumber Ltd., will not be logging in the area of concern this winter." Boucher Bros. isn't logging, but Brewster is. And so is another company called Buchanan Lumber. Someone torched some of Buchanan's trucks and logging equipment on the weekend. McInnis asked Fjordbotten for an explanation of the letter. John McInnis, Alberta New Democrat Environment Critic He's misleading Albertans and I ask him to explain why he says one thing in one context and quite another in another context. LeRoy Fjordbotten, Alberta Forestry Minister Mr. Speaker, I find that offensive about saying that I'm misleading Albertans. I would ask him to retract that because there is no basis in fact for that at all. Warford McInnis refused to retract his comments. Outside the Legislature Fjordbotten said the area of concern he talked about in his letter referred to land surrounding a 95 sq. mile reserve set aside for the Lubicons. He said the Indians can't expect to prevent logging on land they claim throughout northern Alberta. But the Minister admitted that his letter wasn't clear on exactly where logging is taking place. Linda Warford, CBC News, at the Alberta Legislature.