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personally. He said he's glad to see people standing up for themselves and
for others ... and he reminded me that Ed Broadbent said "To Hell with
Shell" in the House of Commons years ago.

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Here's hoping we see many more protests like this ... Sid Tan of the
Sierra Club's LMG (Vancouver) Group stands in front of a Shell station
every week -- sometimes alone, sometimes with 200 people.  'High Sierra
Sid' was in the Club's international 'Planet' newsletter recently. 

take care, all
~paul

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
		"The Flames of Shell are flames of Hell,
	       		We bask below their light.
		     Not for us to serve the blight
		   Of cursed neglect and cursed Shell."
		            - Ogoni song

_________________________________________________________________________
Pollution offences must be approached as crimes, not as morally blameless
technical breaches of a regulatory standard.
						Judge Barry D. Stuart
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~pfalvo/Profile.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 15:23:09 -0300 (ADT)
From: Mark Butler <ar427@chebucto.ns.ca>
To: sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: Protest of Shell in Nigeria


You are cordially invited to a protest 5:00-7:00 on April 20 at the 
Westinn Hotel(beside the train station):

Protest Announcement
For Release: April 20

Ogoni Solidarity Network to Protest Shell Canada Reception

On Monday, April 20, 1998, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., members and supporters 
of the Ogoni Solidarity Network of Nova Scotia (OSN-NS) will protest the 
reception and dinner of the RDeveloping East Coast GasS conference at the 
Westin Hotel.  The dinner is co-sponsored by Shell Canada, and will 
feature the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Natural Resources, as 
keynote speaker.

The Ogoni Solidarity Network of Nova Scotia condemns Shell CanadaUs 
international parent company for its role in Nigeria, and urges the 
Canadian Government to take stronger action against the repressive 
Nigerian dictatorship of General Sani Abacha.

The OSN-NS supports the international boycott of Shell, which has been 
called by Nigerians opposed to ShellUs record in their country.  Shell 
has inflicted severe environmental devastation on Ogoniland, in the Delta 
region of Nigeria, in the course of their oil drilling.  Local residents 
who complain are brutally suppressed, and many have been killed by the 
Nigerian military dictatorship.  Shell has supplied money and weapons to 
this dictatorship, and is a partner in their human rights violations.
Shell Canada is 78% owned by their international parent companies, Shell 
Transport and Trading Company and Royal Dutch Shell.  As such, they share 
the responsibility for ShellUs atrocities in Nigeria. 

Perhaps the best known victim of Shell and the Nigerian dictatorship is 
Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed along with eight others on 
November 10, 1995.  Less well known are the twenty others currently in 
Nigerian detention possibly facing the same fate, or the hundreds of 
Ogonis certified as political refugees by the UNHCR.  While Shell Canada 
entertains the federal Minister of Natural Resources, the Ogoni continue 
to suffer.

Colette Poirier, of OSN-NS, praises CanadaUs strongly worded condemnation 
of Nigerian human rights abuses, and this countryUs international role in 
calling for sanctions against Nigeria, but laments Canada's lack of 
concrete action at home.  She calls on the Canadian government to 
implement an immediate embargo on Nigerian crude oil entering Canada and to take action to 
discourage Canadian investment in that country.  Since the Nigerian 
government is 80% financed by oil revenues, this would have an immediate 
impact on the regime.

The weakness of CanadaUs position has recently been highlighted with the 
announcement that CanadaUs largest overseas oil producer, Canadian 
Occidental Petroleum Ltd., is negotiating to begin oil production in 
Nigeria.  A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy 
admitted, ROttawa hasnUt put up obstacles so far to prevent Canadian 
companies from negotiating West African [Nigerian] deals.S  (Globe and 
Mail, April 2, 1998)

For further information contact:
Colette Poirier, Ogoni Solidarity Network-Nova Scotia		425-7877
Barineka Gbarazia,Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People	443-9792
Mark Butler, Ecology Action Centre				429-2202
Youth for Social Justice

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