FRIENDS OF THE LUBICON (Toronto) 485 Ridelle Avenue, Toronto, ONT M6B 1K6 Tel: (416) 783-4694 - Fax c/o Blackbird Design (416) 324-8268 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 29, 1992 A&W RESTAURANTS JOIN DAISHOWA BOYCOTT Following negotiations with Friends of the Lubicon (Toronto), A&W Food Services has agreed to join the growing boycott of Daishowa paper products. The boycott of Daishowa Canada Co. Ltd. paper products has been in effect since November 1991. The boycott was called to stop the multinational Daishowa from clearcutting the entire unceded traditional territories of the Lubicon Lake Cree Nation of northern Alberta. A total of 17 companies including Pizza Pizza, Country Style Donuts, the LCBO and more have stopped using Daishowa paper bags since that time. In lieu of written confirmation that A&W will no longer be using Daishowa paper products we are distributing a verbatim transcript of a message they left on our answering machine. We will be asking the growing number of people across the country who are concerned about the situation of the Lubicon Cree to continue monitoring the paper products used by A&W to ensure that they keep their word. LUBICONS FACE IMPENDING CLEARCUTS -- AGAIN Information from northern Alberta suggests that Daishowa plans to begin clearcutting unceded Lubicon territories as soon as the ground freezes this fall. Despite being forced by public pressure to abandon clearcut plans last winter, Daishowa has never made a clear, public and unequivocal commitment not to cut or to buy wood cut on unceded Lubicon territories until a land rights settlement is reached with both levels of government and a harvesting agreement is negotiated. The Lubicon society has been devastated by ongoing oil and gas exploration and Daishowa now presents the greatest single threat to their survival. The federal government is continuing to sabotage Lubicon affairs and has repeatedly proven unwilling to negotiate in good faith, therefore only massive public pressure can stop this impending genocide. For more information please contact: Naomi Robinson of Friends of the Lubicon at (416) 366-0144 or (416) 783-4694 Mary Roberts of A&W Food Services at 1-800-663-4473 or (604) 988-2141 * * * * * FRIENDS OF THE LUBICON (Toronto) 485 Ridelle Avenue, Toronto, ONT M6B 1K6 Tel: (416) 783-4694 - Fax c/o Blackbird Design (416) 324-8268 September 23, 1992 Following is a transcript of a phone conversation left by Mary Roberts of A&W on the Friends of the Lubicon answering machine, on the afternoon of September 23. MARY ROBERTS: Hello. This is Mary Roberts from A&W calling again for (Friends of the Lubicon) Naomi (Robinson). I'm just going to leave a message for her and give up trying to call her in person. I'm about to leave town for a couple of days. So, Naomi, I have your request that we give you, in writing, our agreement not to use DAISHOWA products and I want you to know that I'm not going to do that. You've -- as we discussed before, you got what you wanted, which is our agreement not to use their products. This was not a condition that we discussed before. You've got my word for it. I've suggested before that you can speak to anybody that we do business with and find out what out level of integrity is, which I think is unequalled, in our business anyway. If that's not good enough for you I suggest you ask DAISHOWA. I'd like you not to call me back and I'd like you also to arrange it so that none of the other organizations you're associated with calls us either. We've spent a lot of time on this issue. It's been a very painful and unpleasant thing for us to come to this decision, and I would like this to be the end of it. Thank you. Good bye. * * * * * FRIENDS OF THE LUBICON (Toronto) 485 Ridelle Avenue, Toronto, ONT M6B 1K6 Tel: (416) 783-4694 - Fax c/o Blackbird Design (416) 324-8268 Sept. 25, 1992 Mary Roberts A&W Food Services Suite #300, 171 West Esplanade North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 3K9 Dear Ms. Roberts: The phone message you left on the Friends of the Lubicon (Toronto) answering machine is hereby acknowledged. In lieu of written confirmation that A&W will no longer be using Daishowa paper products we will be distributing a verbatim transcript of the message you left on our answering machine. We will be distributing it to the growing number of people across the country and around the world concerned about the plight of the Lubicon people. Frankly it's not likely that many of them will feel any greater sympathy than we do over the time you've spent and pain you've suffered making what should have been a simple, effortless decision to do the obviously right thing. We will also be asking the growing number of people across the country and around the world to whom we distribute a verbatim transcript of your phone message to continue monitoring the paper products used by A&W. Should we receive information that A&W is continuing to use Daishowa paper products you will hear from us again. It would have been a whole lot simpler and easier for us to simply release a statement praising A&W for its good corporate citizenship. Unfortunately the informal, non-binding, indignant "trust me" way you've chosen to handle this matter didn't give us that option. Sincerely, Kevin Thomas Friends of the Lubicon (Toronto) * * * * * Transcript of CBC Radio News Broadcast (8:30 A.M.) Friday, October 2, 1992 Phil Henry, CBC News A&W Restaurants won't be using paper products produced by Daishowa Pulp and Paper anymore. A spokesperson for A&W says the company didn't want to bow to pressure from a group called Friends of the Lubicon but she says they didn't have much choice. Dave Cooper reports. Dave Cooper, CBC News The group Friends of the Lubicon is trying to help the Lubicon Indians of northern Alberta settle their land claim with the federal government. The group pressures companies to stop using products made by Daishowa. That's because Daishowa, which has a pulp mill in northern Alberta, also has logging rights on land claimed by the Lubicon. Friends of the Lubicon claim Daishowa's logging could destroy the Lubicon way of life. The group has convinced companies like Pizza Pizza and Country Style Donuts to stop using Daishowa products, mainly paper bags. Mary Roberts with A&W says her company has also decided to stop using Daishowa bags, but not because of concern about the Lubicon. Mary Roberts, A&W Restaurants This issue is between the Lubicon and the federal and provincial governments. We don't have a position on the issue. Cooper Roberts emphasizes that A&W is not joining a boycott. Instead, she says, the company has been forced to act because of threats from the Friends of the Lubicon. Roberts We have customers who expect to be served well by A&W and the threat of pickets and demonstrations around our restaurants would obviously be very disruptive to serving those customers. Cooper Roberts says A&W is an innocent bystander in the Lubicon issue, and she says the company resents being used by the Friends of the Lubicon to publicize a boycott which the company has become a part of only very reluctantly. Dave Cooper, CBC News, Edmonton.