|
APRIL 24th, 2008 To
see the photo gallery of Ottawa's Uranium Inquiry |
IN THIS ISSUE: |
| 1)
WE HAVE NINETEEN!! Hi folks, FUME is
pleased to announce that yesterday Haliburton County Council adopted a
resolution asking the McGuinty government for a moratorium on uranium
mining in support of the original Highlands east resolution. There is
one more township to support the resolution, Minden Hills will likely
vote on it at their next meeting however the Reeve and Deputy Reeve have
already voted for the County resolution so it is likely to pass. That
is 5 more local governments asking McGuinty to shut down uranium mining
making the total 19 municipalities. Hopefully he is starting to listen. 2) FAMU AND CCAMU AT PERTH'S MAPLEFEST Keep the glow out of Canada's maple syrup capital! Folks Against Mining Uranium (FAMU: Perth's new anti-uranium mining group) is hosting an information distribution table at Maplefest in Perth this Saturday April 26. Our goal is to raise awareness about uranium mining by handing out information in a friendly approachable manner. Are you already thinking of going? We are looking for volunteers to be at the table between 9:30 - 4:00 on Saturday. Please contact Willa to sign up for a volunteer time slot: Morning:
9:30 - 12 Contact: Willa_is@hotmail.com or 613 326 0186 Kids, parents, students, everyone welcome-See you there! Editor's Note: FAMU has invited CCAMU to participate at their table and we will be distributing information and bumper stickers to the festival goers. Stop by and say "Hello." We have a petition for you to sign. 3) ARDOCH ALGONQUIN COMMUNITY MEETING The Ardoch Algonquin community is extending an invitation to the settler community to a meeting on Sunday April 27 at 4 pm, Maberly Hall. The purpose of this meeting is to update everyone on what is happening and what is planned for the near future. It will also be an opportunity for exchange of information and answering questions we may all have. Please bring finger foods and snacks to share. We will have coffee, tea and juice and snacks also. Mireille
Lapointe 4) NOTICE: MCGUINTY VOWS CHANGES FOR NATIVES IN MINING LAW Karen Howlett-Globe and Mail April 24, 2008 Native leaders in Ontario have been pushing the government to change the province's mining laws to better protect their interests when companies explore for minerals on their traditional lands. Yesterday - the same day native leaders from across the province held a rally in front of the legislature over the jailing of six members of a remote reserve who opposed mining on their land - they got their wish. Premier Dalton McGuinty vowed to reform the province's 135-year-old mining act to strike a better balance between the competing interests of mining companies and native communities. "We've
got a problem with the mining act," Mr. McGuinty told 5) TORONTO CITIZENS' INQUIRY ON URANIUM MINING Saturday,
April 26, 2008 Southwest
of Museum subway station Open to the public. Refreshments served. Scheduled
presentations include: ·Dr. Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility ·Marion Odell, International Institute of Concern for Public Health ·Rosalia Paiva, International Campaign for Indigenous Dignity ·Lorraine Rekmans, author of This is my Home (re: Eliot Lake uranium mine) ·Rev. Ralph Carl Wushke, Ecumenical Chaplain, University of Toronto ·Mining Watch Canada ·Greenpeace . and many more ·Water issues: tailings dam disasters, water use in mining, tritium ·The use of uranium in weapons, both nuclear and conventional ·Aboriginal land claims, colonialism, and mining on native land ·The Ontario Mining Act and local community opposition to it ·Global criticism of Canadian mining companies and current legislation ·Nuclear
energy waste disposal problems and renewable energy alternatives ---------- 6) BOB LOVELACE AND KI SIX APPEALS TO BE HEARD IN MAY The appeals of the sentences of Bob Lovelace and the KI 6 will be heard together on May 28th in Toronto Ontario. Stay tuned for more details. 7) CHANDLER SWAIN WRITES TO THE HUMM Taken from the Humm website, "What's the Humm? So glad you asked! The Humm is a free, monthly, independent newspaper covering Arts, Entertainment and Ideas in the small towns and communities of the Ottawa Valley (so far it can be found in Almonte, Arnprior, Balderson, Burnstown, Carleton Place, Carp, Dunrobin, Lanark, Maberly, McDonald's Corners, Pakenham, Perth, and Westport, with a smattering in Kanata). Circulation ranges from 5000-7000 copies, depending on the season." http://www.thehumm.com/
I have appreciated your following the issues related to the proposed uranium mining near Sharbot Lake over the past year. Your paper has served a valuable role in raising public awareness needed to move this issue into the forefront of people's consciousness and action. I am writing this as a personal account of my year with uranium that culminated with my attendance at the Citizen's Inquiry into the Impact of the Uranium Cycle sponsored by CCAMU yesterday in Ottawa. I woke up this morning after hearing over 40 people present their views and information regarding the issues related to uranium at Inquiry. I believe I am a different person today. I am currently feeling devastated and am writing this as a way to find some emotional equilibrium as much as anything. I went there to be an observer after discovering much of why the mining and use of uranium is a such a bad idea over the past year. I have heard and read much that has profoundly affected my determination to remain committed to the fight to stop uranium prospecting in the Ottawa River watershed. I am now absolutely clear that nuclear power is not at all necessary for our future energy needs. I learned that nuclear weapons wouldn't likely have been used at the end of WW2 without Canadian uranium. Further, Canadian uranium is certainly being used now in the form of depleted uranium in huge quantities by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. None of us can remain unaffected by the proliferation of uranium poisoning now that it is has been released into the atmosphere so widely in recent warfare. "Well," you say, "that's in the middle east. Too far away for me to have to worry about it, but isn't it a shame? Tut, tut." Without me going on and on .just know that babies are being born to US soldiers with the same appalling birth defects as Iraqi babies. The midwives in Iraq are afraid at every birth as so many babies are being born with such dreadful deformities. Uranium is a slow and insidious poison. We simply can't dig anymore of it up when its use is so utterly wrong in every application. But then
yesterday I sat, totally humbled, and listened to presentations that frequently
made me weep, had my heart pounding, inspired me and enraged me for 8
hours. "The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it, and once you've seen it, keeping quiet and saying nothing becomes as political an act as speaking out. There's no innocence. Either way you are accountable." ¬ Arundhati Roy, writer and activist So, for me, it comes down to 5 crystal clear points. 1.Renewable is Doable: The Pembina Institute ( and affiliated organizations) has clearly outlined how our power can be created from renewables and conservation. They are making presentations about this to the Ontario Energy Board with little attention being paid to their research in the face of lobbying by AECL. Germany has put as much solar power on line last year as Ontario will try and do by 2025. 2.The economics of creating nuclear power is ridiculous and laughable ( or requires at least a wry snort of derision.). Tax payers will carry the cost.( and the traditional huge cost overruns). Where as Germany is stoking their economy providing renewables. 3. A big use of our uranium is in the American war machine. That must stop. 4. This is not an "aboriginal problem". First nation communities are simply taking the brunt of the back lash. Robert Lovelace and The K.I. 6 are heroes and are in prison for protecting the land and water that we all rely on. I am honoured to be working on this issue along with First Nation Peoples. 5. The notion that new nuclear power is a global warming solution is a big fat lie. Most sincerely, Chandler Swain with big thanks to Donna Dillman and the organizers at CCAMU for hosting the Inquiry. 8) ONTARIO POWER GENERATION COMMUNITY INFORMATION SEESIONS RE: DARLINGTON NUCLEAR SITE We invite you to learn more about our work on the application for new nuclear facilities at Darlington. There are several ways you can make your voice heard. In Person: During the information sessions, OPG will share information on the Environmental Assessment (EA) studies being conducted for the Darlington B Project and engage in dialogue with community members and key stakeholders. A community information session will be held at each of the locations listed below. All community information sessions will be held from 3:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., with a presentation at 7:00 p.m. Bowmanville:
April 22 Newcastle:
April 29 Oshawa:
May 1 Courtice Cobourg:
April 24 Peterborough:
April 30 Orono: May
6 Toronto:
May 8 New Knowledge
Program - Darlington B EA By Email: By Phone: By Mail: Presentations
and Briefings: 9) SAGE: SAFE AND GREEN ENERGY: PETERBOROUGH Safe And Green Energy Peterborough is looking for dedicated environmentalists/activists. SAGE Open House Thursday
May 1st Or email us at goSAGE@yahoo.ca Join us for some lively conversation, snacks, a coffee, tea or other yummy beverage! SAGE is comprised of a group of concerned Ontario citizens who peacefully oppose the renewed focus on nuclear energy and the mining of uranium in Ontario, and is an advocate for safe and renewable energy sources. SAGE members share concerns for the environment, the future of humanity, social equity, and responsible management of public funds. SAGE networks with other anti-nuclear and environmental groups across Ontario and Canada. 10) NEWS RELEASE: SIERRA CLUB CANADA Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Phase out of Uranium Mining and Nuclear Energy urged Ottawa - Uranium mining exploration should be halted in Ontario as it is part of an unclean, unsustainable and uneconomic nuclear energy industry that is harming efforts to prevent catastrophic climate change says Sierra Club Canada in its presentation to the Citizens' Inquiry into the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle in Ottawa. "Nuclear energy has already created a legacy of debt and toxic substances for Ontario," says Stephen Hazell, executive director of Sierra Club Canada. "Ontarians should check their electricity bills-we are still paying down debt from previous nuclear fiascos left by other Ontario governments." "It is simply wrong to continue to allow uranium mining companies to have free entry on to private and First Nations lands to unleash radioactive substances into the natural environment. It is just another of the huge subsidies provided by the Ontario and federal government to develop the nuclear industry. Uranium mining companies will reap the profits while local and First Nations people will be forced to endure the toxic radioactive legacy that is left behind," Hazell says. Subsidies to the nuclear industry include: * $17.5
billion to Atomic Energy Canada Ltd since the early 1950s; "Nuclear power plants and the uranium mining industry are barriers to combating climate change," says Emilie Moorhouse, Sierra Club Canada's atmosphere and energy campaigner. "Nuclear power plants are too costly and take too long to construct to help combat climate change. And by investing resources into nuclear power and its energy source, uranium, much-needed attention and support for truly sustainable solutions to climate change is diverted." The Inquiry
is being held April 22nd from 1:00 pm until 9:00 (with a break 5:00 pm
to 6:00 pm) at the Rideau Park United Church, 2203 Alta Vista Dr. Stephen
Hazell's presentation is scheduled for 4:30 pm. BACKGROUND ON URANIUM MINING AND NUCLEAR ENERGY Uranium Mining and Nuclear Power Uranium
mining exploration should be halted in Ontario as it is part of a nuclear
energy industry that harms efforts to prevent catastrophic climate change
and is unclean, unsustainable and uneconomic. Mining uranium from open
pits or by underground excavation results in large stockpiles of radioactive
and toxic waste rock and tailings. These mines and waste sites contaminate
water and result in the release of radon gas into the atmosphere for centuries,
even millennia. These wastes will be a toxic inheritance that our children
and their children will need to manage in perpetuity. Nuclear
Power has cost the Canadian public billions Cost overruns on the last nuclear station to be built in Ontario at Darlington were in the billions of dollars, and The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star reported on April 18, 2008 that the new Bruce nuclear reactor is already over budget. Debt incurred by Ontario Hydro (the predecessor to Ontario Power Generation) in the operation of its nuclear power reactors amounted to over $35 billion, a debt still being repaid by customers of electricity utilities across Ontario. The Government of Ontario plans to spend $40 billion on new and expanded nuclear facilities. Nuclear
power is not emission or waste-free Nuclear power production in Canada produces approximately 85,000 highly radioactive waste fuel bundles each year along with 500,000 tonnes or more of toxic and radioactive mine tailings (wastes left after uranium extraction). In over 50 years of nuclear power production in Canada, a permanent solution to waste disposal has not been found and, according to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, may not be found in the next 200 years. Spent fuel
from CANDU reactors contains over 2300 deadly radioactive elements-byproducts
of the fission process-including uranium, plutonium, cesium, and strontium.
High-level nuclear waste will remain toxic for periods far longer than
recorded human history, in some cases for millions of years. Ontario already
has 30,000 tonnes of such waste. |