Meadow Lake protesters reach agreement with NorSask

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A 17-month blockade of a northern Saskatchewan logging road may come to an end with the signing of an interim co-management agreement between the band and a major logging company.

Canoe Lake Indian Band and NorSask Forest Products signed the agreement Oct. 12. In it a board of NorSask representatives and 12 Aboriginal and local representatives will thrash out how logging will be undertaken in the area.

Ruth Iron, one of the original protesters, credits the blockade for paving the way for an agreement.

"They will have input on where the clear cut is done, how close to waterways the clear cut will take place, where roads will go through, and avoiding traditional salt licks," said Ray Cariou, chairman of NorSask.

But the protesters will remain in the area until a final agreement is signed, said one representative.

"There's a permanent camp set up with eight cabins and permanent camp set up with permanent residents of five people per cabin. We will leave only when a permanent agreement is signed," Allan Morin said.

The blockade was initially set up by members of the canoe Lake, Jans Bay and Cole Bay Cree bands at an area approximately 65 km north of Meadow Lake. The group, made up primarily by Elders, were protesting forestry practices by Mistik Management, a branch of NorSask Forest Products. Cree and Metis from five nearby communities joined the Elders, and formed the Protectors of Mother Earth to represent the protesters.

The Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) and Millar-Western (an Albertan company) are major shareholders in NorSask and Mistik, the main logging corporations in northwest Saskatchewan.

The Elders object to clear cutting and the use of mechanical harvesters. They want control over their local resources, compensation for their people, financial and technical compensation for local people who want to start their own forestry related businesses, said Morin, head of the Protectors of Mother Earth.

"A lot of the Elders still trap there. Blocks of trapping area have been passed on from generation to generation and are still being used."