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AUGUST 30th , 2008 |
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IN THIS ISSUE: 1)
TAKING IT TO THE TOP - DECISION OF THE APPELLANT COURT APPEALED TO THE
SUPREME COURT OF CANADA - Bob comments. 1)
TAKING IT TO THE TOP - On Wednesday of this past week, Frontenac Ventures filed Leave to Appeal the Appellant Court decision, which freed Robert Lovelace This, in
response, from Bob: 2) THE MINING ACT CONSULATION - KINGSTON REPORTS: 2a) Hello Donna, Thought I would let you know that the citizens' meeting re: the Mining Act went very well. I think you would have been very gratified to have heard the many intelligent, informed and passionate presentations heard there. A clear message was sent and received that the citizens of this area demand that the issue of uranium mining be dealt with seriously by the government. Good luck
with your upcoming trip and best wishes from me. 2b)
Hello Everyone Overwhelmingly, there was a call to re-unite mineral and surface rights, have mining placed within the local municipal governing process, and to have environmental and other local interests be part of an approval process before mining exploration takes place. Between sessions, Rob Matheson, a Kingston municipal councilor, and Bob Lovelace addressed a rally organized by Paul Gervan of CCAMU. Many of those who had attended the afternoon session and others who joined them, made up the enthusiastic crowd. Tho Jeff Wood was unable to join the festivities, his new song, "URANIUM HALLELUJAH", was sung during the rally to the officials in attendance. 200 people attended the public session in the evening and many speakers forcefully reminded the same provincial representatives that thousands of people and 23 municipalities had asked for a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining until the issues relating to First Nations and mining uranium had been resolved. The Deputy Minister responded by saying that it was government policy not to have a ban on uranium exploration and mining in Ontario. The Deputy Minister said that nuclear power provided half of the electricity used in the Province and that we needed uranium mining to provide the fuel for the nuclear reactors. [editors note: Based on the fact that we export over 85% of the uranium we currently extract in Canada, had I been in attendance I would have argued the point.] It was a very successful day as we really got our message across and public awareness will be increased with the various reports of what happened at the evening meeting in the local papers. Some of
us will be going to Toronto for the final meeting on September 8. It would
be useful to know who is going. I plan to be there. 3)
QUOTE BY DR. URSULA FRANKLIN "Our
acts of defiance, of resistance, are the building blocks of solidarity.
4a)
MINING ACT Ontario's mining act is over one hundred years old and in the opinion of the provincial government it's time to update an outdated system. A large group of residents from Sharbot Lake along with members of the Ardoch Algonquins First Nations gathered at outside the Radisson Hotel where public consultations on the mining act are being held. ..Bob Lovelace spent over three months in jail for protesting where Frontenac Ventures is exploring for uranium on land the Ardoch Algonquins have an unsettled land dispute on. The mining exploration company is now appealing the decision that saw Lovelace released from prison. For complete
article, including Bob's response and a comment from Rob Matheson, Kingston
City Councillor, please click on: 4b) PROTESTERS ANGRY URANIUM EXCLUDED FROM ONTARIO MINING REVIEW - CBC Dozens of anti-uranium protesters turned up Thursday in Kingston at a public consultation that is part of an Ontario Mining Act review, even though the province insists that uranium mining won't be covered by the review. About 50 placard-waving demonstrators and a live band performed a song about water being polluted by uranium mining set to the tune of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah for officials from the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. For complete
article, including comments from Sheila MacDonald and Tim Seitz, please
click on: 4c)
CITIZENS URGE CHANGE TO MINING ACT If the turnout
at a meeting about modernizing Ontario's Mining Act in Kingston last night
is any indication of a need for change, the 150-year-old law is ripe for
an overhaul. Last night
in Kingston, private citizens, landowners and prospectors were among those
to line up at the microphones to speak during a session that lasted three
hours, one hour Uranium and sub-surface land rights were the hot topics. For complete
article, including comments from Cathy Wills, Susan Quipp and Rob Matheson,
please see: 5)
LETTER FROM CITIZENS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY Dear friends
of CCAMU We support
you with all your peaceful protests and lobbying actions to Thanks again,
lots of renewable energy for your efforts! 6)
BEYOND NUCLEAR BULLETIN - excerpt Our [Beyond
Nuclear] View: "Clean coal" still includes environmentally destructive
mountain top removal and neither candidate has yet explained how they
would accomplish their lofty nuclear goals. McCain's 45-reactor revival
would exceed one half trillion in tax dollars. Finding ways to "safely
harness nuclear power" has not been achieved in 60 years and must
include not only safe and secure reactor operations, but safe uranium
mining and processing operations and the safe disposition of nuclear waste
for millions of years. All these solutions have so far eluded human discovery.
Furthermore, attempts to date to make nuclear energy safer have been blunted
by the lack of effective federal enforcement actions. Whistleblowers who
have attempted to draw attention to significant safety lapses have been
routinely blackballed and scapegoated (see Siemaszko story below) by both
the NRC and industry. Both campaign positions would be expensive exercises
in futility compared to the more immediate, safer and less expensive sustainable
energy options. 7)
NUCLEAR WASTE CONTAINERS LIKELY TO FAIL, WARNS 'DEVASTATING' REPORT Thousands of containers of lethal nuclear waste are likely to fail before being safely sealed away underground, a devastating official report concludes. The unpublicised report is by the Environment Agency, which has to approve any proposals for getting rid of the waste that remains deadly for tens of thousands of years. The document effectively destroys Britain's already shaky disposal plans just as ministers are preparing an expansion of nuclear power. It shows that many containers used to store the waste are made of second-rate materials, are handled carelessly, and are liable to corrode. The report concludes: "It is cautious to assume a significant proportion will fail." It says computer models suggest up to 40 per cent of them could be at risk. For complete
article, please click on: |