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Community Group Calls for Moratorium on Uranium Exploration in Ontario Toronto -- June 24, 2008 -- A coalition against uranium mining today called for a moratorium on uranium exploration in Ontario until Aboriginal land rights, and environmental and health impacts are addressed. The coalition also called for a Royal Commission into the badly dated Ontario Mining Act. The call for a moratorium and a Royal Commission are two of six main recommendations in “Staking Our Claim for a Healthy Future,” a report released today by the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) The report grows out of a citizens’ inquiry the coalition conducted into the impacts of uranium mining and the use of uranium. The inquiry held meetings in four Ontario towns and cities, heard 150 presentations and reviewed another 230 submissions. “It is clear from our inquiry that Ontarians want aboriginal land rights resolved before there is any prospecting or mining on their land,” said Marilyn Crawford of CCAMU. “Ontarians are also very concerned about the health and environmental impacts of uranium mining, and want a moratorium on uranium exploration until the oudated Mining Act is reviewed.” The Ontario Mining Act, first passed in 1873, gives prospectors unimpeded access to private land. They can stake claims without receiving any consent and undertake destructive practices, such as cutting trees, without any landowner consent or compensation. The report, written by former Toronto Mayor John Sewell, builds on growing municipal and community concern about the Mining Act. Councils in 20 municipalities, including Ottawa, Kingston and Peterborough and three counties, have passed petitions calling on the Ontario government to make substantive changes to the Mining Act and implement an immediate moratorium on uranium exploration in Eastern Ontario. In addition, 10,000 Ontarians have petitioned the Ontario government calling for a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining in Eastern Ontario. The Citizens’ Inquiry was sparked by the concerns of many groups across Ontario, including the occupation of a uranium exploration site in the Sharbot Lake area by the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation. - 30 - Available on request: For more information, contact:
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