Media Alert

McGuinty meets with Uranium Protesting Grandmother in Effort to Have Her End Hunger Strike

November 28, 2007

On Wednesday afternoon, immediately following the election of the speaker, Premier Dalton McGuinty met with Donna Dillman, who has been without food for 52 days in an effort to stop uranium exploration and mining in Eastern Ontario. Until Tuesday she has been living on the side of the road near Sharbot Lake, north of Kingston, where Frontenac Ventures, a uranium exploration company plans to begin drilling by February, 2008.

The site is just 1/2 hour from her home and 1 1/2 hour west of Ottawa on the Mississippi River System. With over a million people, including most of her family, living downstream, Dillman is concerned that pristine Frontenac and Lanark Counties will be turned into a tailings dump similar to that in the Elliot Lake area. On Tuesday she brought her protest to Queen's Park, asking Premier McGuinty to step in and call a moratorium.

In the meantime, two Algonquin Nations are about to begin negotiations with the Ontario and Federal Governments over unceded land claims that include the 30,000 acres that have been staked.

Dillman had been scheduled to meet with Honourable Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines, who had called her earlier in the day, and was surprised and pleased when the Premier joined the meeting.

“I found the Premier to be very personable. Both expressed their sincere desire to see me resume eating," stated the 53 year old grandmother. She continued, "Although the Premier was clear from the outset, as was Gravelle, that he would not be calling a moratorium, I came away feeling optimistic about the conversation.”

When McGuinty stated that he could not end uranium mining because he was committed to maintaining the present level of 14,000 megawatts of electricity generated by nuclear, Dillman advised him that, according to her information, 80% of Canada’s uranium is exported and that the country has stockpiles estimated to last for 40 years at current levels of use.

She added that, with this in mind, and in light of the danger, there should be no need for continued exploration. Both McGuinty and Gravelle seemed unaware of those statistics and the Premier committed to researching the issue. Dillman will continue refusing food until she hears back from him.

-30-

Contact:

Donna Dillman 416-274-9980 (cell)

Lynn Daniluk 613-267-0539 (cell)