CHAPLEAU EXPRESS
Local News Weekly
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Vol. 27, Issue 7, October 13, 2022
Industry enabled to wreck forests: lawsuit BY CARL CLUTCHEY Ontario’s boreal forests used primarily to obtain logs and fibre for lumber and pulp production will deteriorate beyond recovery if a different management approach isn’t soon implemented, an alliance of Chapleau-area First Nations warns. “The pace of degradation has been increasing, resulting in decreasing forest cover and lower forest resilience (which) are known contributors to climate change,” the consortium of the Chapleau Cree, Missanabie Cree and Brunswick House First Nations said in a recent news release. The group filed last week a claim in Ontario’s Superior Court against the province, which the group alleges has enabled the forestry industry to focus solely on production and run rough-shod over what are traditional Indigenous lands governed by treaties. “The result has been rampant landscape fragmentation, degradation and contamination
of traditional territories over time,” the First Nations contend in the news release. They added: “The health of the ecosystem . . . depends on the forest being understood and protected as an interconnected whole.” They say that hasn’t been happening, with the continued use of massive clear-cuts and pesticides, which deter the growth of tree species that compete with spruce and pine that are normally logged and put through lumber and pulp mills. “Rather than heeding the First Nations’ concerns, Ontario has instead made recent and extensive changes to its environmental and forest management legislation and regulations to reduce protections for the eco-system on which all forest life and the First Nations’ rights depend,” the group claims. “A blanket exemption for forest management planning from environmental assessment (has caused) reduced protections for
species at risk,” it adds. No specific monetary damages are mentioned in the court filing. None of the allegations contained in it have been proven in court. A provincial government spokesman declined to comment, “as this matter may be subject to further litigation.” In a statement, the Ontario Forest Industries Association said “our membership is committed to sustainable forest management and meeting the high standards of Ontario’s legislative (forestry) framework.” “We are very proud of the extensive collaboration and business partnerships between our industry and Indigenous communities across the province,” the associated added. In a separte news release, NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong) called on the province to honour Indigenous treaties “to ensure that our ways of life and right to hunt and harvest on treaty territories are protected.”
Impaired driving stop leads to drug charges near Chapleau
O
n Oct. 5, 2022 at approximately 3:54 p.m., members of the Superior East Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) were notified of a possible impaired driver on Highway 129 near Long Term Chapleau. Forecast The vehicle was located, and further Thursday investigation revealed High 9 t hat the driver was Low 4 [allegedly] impaired. As a Friday result, Calvin Lecuyer, 35 High 8 years of age of Chapleau, Low 2 was charged with the Saturday High 5 Low 1 Sunday High 7 Low -2 Monday High 1 Low -2 Tuesday High 1 Low -2
following: • Operation while impaired - alcohol and drugs, contrary to section 320.14(1)(a) of the Criminal Code (CC) • Failure or refusal to comply with demand, contrary to section 320.15(1) of the CC • Possession of a Schedule I Substance methamphetamine, contrary to section 4(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) • Possession of a Schedule I Substance - other drugs, contrary to section 4(1) of the CDSA The accused was released from custody and is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice on Dec. 19, 2022 in Chapleau.
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