| |
|
PRESS RELEASE
07 JULY 2006
LEGAL SEESAW OF YOUBOU SAWMILL
Nine years after the elusive “Clause 7” vanished from
Tree Farm Licence 46, five years after TimberWest Forest Corporation
scuttled the Youbou Sawmill, and three years after “Kenneth
David James versus Her Majesty The Queen” was launched in
B.C. Supreme Court, the next episode of this lengthy saga is unfolding.
This week, lawyer Joseph Arvay filed an appeal of Justice R.D. Wilson’s
month-old decision that ruled in favour of the Crown’s res
judicata challenge. This decision blocked continuation of the ‘James
vs. Crown’ class action lawsuit by which 200 former Youbou
millworkers had hoped to see justice resolved for themselves and
the general public.
The Youbou TimberLess Society (YTS) has supported the Youbou millworkers
all these years and will continue to do so. After three years of
effort and four appearances in Court, we do not want to see this
heroic initiative die. It is more than just a case to win compensatory
relief for millworkers displaced because of government negligence.
The case symbolizes how the machinations of government and big business
can separate a resource community from its natural resource base.
It tests the duty of care that a government needs to show over the
public's forest resources. It spotlights the principle that natural
resources should be linked to local communities for the collective
common good and well-being of its citizens.
If communities are to move, as we believe they should, away from
corporate dependence and the industrial forest model, toward ecological
sustainability and community-accountable stewardship, then this
case can be viewed as emblematic of that objective. This case challenges
the prevailing wisdom that communities and workers need not be consulted
about the disposition (environmental and economic) of their land
and resources. On the grand scale, it is a contest between the forces
that champion local self determination and those that celebrate
the primacy of the global marketplace.
The YTS has established a special savings account for ‘James
vs. Crown’ and is soliciting financial support for the continuing
legal struggle. Donations can be made through the YTS Website at
www.savebcjobs.com
E N D
back to News Archive
|
|
|
