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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!wupost!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!rich
- From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
- Subject: NO MORE FLIGHTS OVER NATIVE LANDS
- Message-ID: <1992Sep2.082306.20679@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Organization: PACH
- Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 08:23:06 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 71
-
- The ACTivist, Volume 8 #9, September 1992.
-
- The ACTivist, Ontario's peace monthly, is published by ACT for
- Disarmament, 736 Bathurst St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 2R4,
- phone 416-531-6154, fax 416-531-5850, e-mail web:act. Hard copy
- subscriptions are $10 for a year ($25 for institutions and funded
- agencies).
-
- Reprint freely, but please credit us (and send us a copy!)
-
- /** gen.newsletter: 138.1 **/
- ** Written 8:48 pm Aug 31, 1992 by web:act in cdp:gen.newsletter **
- NO MORE FLIGHTS OVER NATIVE LANDS
-
- By Saul Chernos
- The ACTivist
-
- Low-level military flying must stop now! That's what activists from
- across Canada will be demanding on Saturday, October 24, during a
- National Day of Action in support of the Innu people of Nitassinan
- (Labrador and Quebec).
-
- Ever since 1979, when Canada first allowed Great Britain, Germany
- -- then West Germany -- and the Netherlands to test low-flying
- military jets over Innu territory, the Innu have protested to the
- Canadian government about the harmful effects of the flights.
-
- Flying seasons until now ran from early April until late September,
- but this year the season has been extended by a month. The October
- 24 protest is timed to coincide with the end of the 1992 season. ACT
- for Disarmament, which initiated this protest, is demanding an
- immediate end to low-level flights.
-
- During test flights, aircraft often fly as low as 100 feet above
- ground level, sometimes touching the treetops. The Innu say the
- incredible noise levels, and the exhaust emissions, are destroying
- the ecosystem and making Nitassinan uninhabitable.
-
- The Innu, who number more than 10,000 and are one of the last
- surviving hunter-gatherer cultures in North America, have lobbied
- hard for the flights to end, but they have been ignored. The use of
- non-violent civil disobedience -- blockading the military runways
- -- has landed them in jail. In July of this year, Innu Nation President
- Peter Penashue filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights
- Commission, which accused the Canadian government of
- systematically shirking its responsibilities to the Innu.
-
- The National Day of Action will follow a month-long series of
- school and community visits throughout Ontario by ACT members,
- to raise awareness about the Innu and to encourage action. The
- events are part of ACT's ongoing campaign to support the Innu.
-
- ACT is encouraging as many Canadian communities as possible to
- support the Innu by organizing petition drives, demonstrations,
- public forums, workshops or non-violent civil disobedience actions.
- We encourage everyone to be involved in organizing an event in your
- community on October 24.
-
- So far, there are actions planned in Toronto, Vancouver, Oakville,
- Stratford, and Guelph.
-
- ACT speakers are available for high schools, universities and
- community groups; we can also bring colour slides. We also have
- resource materials, information packages and petitions. For more
- information, to book a speaker, or to get resource material, get in
- touch with the ACT for Disarmament Toronto office (736 Bathurst
- St., Toronto, M5S 2R4, 416-531-6154) or your regional ACT contact.
-
-
- ** End of text from cdp:gen.newsletter **
-
-