Mario Lord couldn’t hide the pain in his voice as he talked about the six forestry companies that have turned his trapline into a desert.
“It’s impossible to show my son what I was shown,” the Cree tallyman said.
“The water is polluted. I have to buy it in a store. I always get food from the store now. I don’t feel as strong as I used to. When I was young I felt like a millionaire. Today, I feel weak.”
Lord’s name is the first to appear on a Cree lawsuit on forestry filed July 15 at Quebec Superior Court. The same day, he and Cree officials held a press conference to explain the lawsuit in the Grand Council of the Crees’ office in Old Montreal.
Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come is also a plaintiff. “Canada and Quebec have been negligent and have failed to put in place measures to protect what we feel was promised in 1975,” he said.
“We feel we Crees have priority use of the land and there is an infringement of those rights. Dramatic changes are needed.”
Coon Come said the land is still the Cree people’s biggest employer, but forestry has ravaged the Cree economy. That’s why the lawsuit demands compensation for both the Cree Nation and individuals affected, he said. “All the revenues are going down south. We get nothing. We understand we should get benefits from the land. Presently, that is not happening.”
The lawsuit seeks at least $600 million in damages-$400 million for breaches of Aboriginaland treaty rights, plus $200 million for breaches of duties.
On top of this, a further $200 is sought for every single tree illegally cut in Cree land. Individual Crees should be entitled to a portion of this money, according to the lawsuit.
In addition, the court action seeks an injunction on the forestry activities of 27 companies operating in lyiyuuschii. At the press conference, Cree officials said they still hadn’t decided if they would file a separate request for a temporary injunction that would take effect now, while the case winds its way through the courts. If such a request was granted, it would mean logging would stop immediately. If not, there won’t be any relief for years.
The lawsuit also asks the court to declare Quebec’s Forest Act of 1987 and the companies’ timber-supply licenses (known as CAAFs) “unconstitutional, null and void.” The court is also asked to submit all past and proposed forestry operations, construction of logging roads and forestry camps in Cree land to environmental studies, as laid out in the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement
Since the agreement was signed in 1975, the amount of Cree land allocated to loggers has more than doubled, rising from 24,000 to 54,000 square kilometres. As of 1996, about 9,400 sq. km. had been clear-cut without Cree consent, the lawsuit charges
“It is not an easy issue to raise,” said Grand Chief Coon Come.
“But we feel it is incumbent on us to take this court action. We have made every effort tofind a way to deal with forestry impacts on Cree hunters and lands. In essence, we havecome to the end of our rope.”
