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MARCH 14th, 2008 |
IN THIS ISSUE: |
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1)
ARDOCH ALGONQUIN MEETING TIME HAS CHANGED
Message from the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation: We have been moved forward in our meeting time. There is a funeral luncheon at the Maberly Hall on Saturday March, 15, 2007. We will access the hall at 4 pm. So the new times are 4pm Ardock members for 1 hour and settlers at 5 pm. We encourage people to bring food to share since this hits at an odd time for a meeting. We will provide tea, coffee and juice.
2) BOB LOVELACE ON CBC'S THE CURRENT: MARCH 17TH CBC'S The Current will be doing a story on mining in Ontario and will feature an interview with Bob Lovelace. Sam McKay will be interviewed live on Monday morning. The show will air will Monday March 17th, 8:30am EST and will most likely be within the first hour of the broadcast. 3) EVENT REMINDER: RALLY OF SUPPORT FOR THOSE CHARGED WHERE: Kingston
Court House WHY: To speak out against the contempt of court charges against Ardoch Algonquin Elder Bob Lovelace, Shabot Obaajiwan Chief Doreen Davis, Shabot Obaajiwan War Chief Earl Badour, local settler Frank Morrison and John Hudson and David Milne of the Christian Peacemaker Team. BRING: Signs, drums, friends and your voice! We want a huge crowd to yell "Shame" while we surround the courthouse! Please consider coming out before going to work or school. Now is the time to have our voices heard! We are also hoping for people to come back to the courthouse mid-afternoon as the media will be present after the proceedings. 4) TWO URANIUM RELATED TORONTO EVENTS Next Wednesday
(March 19th, 2008) you are invited to attend two events related to uranium
mining, nuclear energy, extraction industries, and social and environmental
justice for Sharbot Lake - a protest and a movie/talk at University of
Toronto: 2) Movie
and lecture same day (Wed. March 19th), 7 p.m. at McLennan Physical Labs
(MP room 118), 60 St. George St. U of T. Movie is either "Uranium"
(NFB) (http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=18301)
or home-made documentary from Sharbot Lake (or both, time permitting)
and informal talk with Marylin Crawford of the Community Coalition Against
Mining Uranium (see http://www.ccamu.ca/). 5) NEW PROTEST VIDEO FOR THE FIRST NATIONS AND CCAMU Thanks go out to Ida for putting this video together. The music is great and it is a wonderful compilation of photos from the protest. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYK3KND6orA 6) FUND RAISING EVENT FOR BOB LOVELACE When: April
2nd, 2008 Critically acclaimed guitarist Don Ross and 2007 Colleen Peterson Songwriting award winner Brooke Miller return to Kingston for one night only in support of Queen's University professor Robert Lovelace who was recently jailed for six months as a result of his steadfast though passive stance on Uranium mining near Sharbot Lake. The music begins at 8:00 pm but doors will open at 7:00 and include speakers close to the subject including David MacDonald. 100% of the profits raised go to Bob's family. "Brooke Miller is a singer who has 'Everything' " - New York Daily News To see Brooke
Miller's 'Two Soldiers', go to. To see Don
Ross's "The Thing That Came from Somewhere", go to. 7) JIM HARDING EVENT: PORT HOPE Where: Port
Hope High School, Dr. Jim Harding is the author of Canada's Deadly Secret: Saskatchewan Uranium and the Global Nuclear System. Dr. Harding's talk is titled "Uranium, Anything But Clean and Green". This event will also include a fundraiser for the Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee (PHCHCC), and is co-sponsored by both PHCHCC (www.porthopehealthconcerns.com) and Lake Ontario Waterkeeper (www.waterkeeper.ca) The Toronto Climate Campaign is been planning a big rally and march/parade, Reclaim Earth Day, for April 20th. "What
we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. Today we are faced with unprecedented environmental crises on one hand, and hypocrisy and inaction on the other. The time is NOW to reclaim the spirit of the ORIGINAL EARTH DAY, to pool our best ideas and give voice to our finest thinkers. It is NOT the time to eliminate the position of National Science Advisor, muzzle scientists in the Ministry of the Environment, overrule the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and fire its president, or downplay the warnings of eminent global scientists about climate change as the Harper government has done. Mr. Harper has abrogated Canada's commitment to meet Kyoto targets, obstructed progress at the international climate change talks in Bali and is failing the people of Canada and the world. Having staged the Toronto contingent of the D8: Global Day of Action this past December, the largest D8 climate rally in Canada (more than 2500 participants and extensive non-corporate sponsorship and support), we want another big turnout! Our theme: Reclaim Earth Day, U-Turn on Climate Change. An opening performance by "The New Kings" and a brief, hosted rally of approximately 5 speakers beginning at 12 noon at Yonge-Dundas Square will be followed by a family-friendly parade west across Queen Street. At Spadina, we hope to arrange an officer-assisted U-turn in the intersection - perhaps with some playful flourishes - and return to John St. where "Streets Are For People" will, as they did last year, stage a fun, interactive Street Festival. The following groups are already represented on this year's Reclaim Earth Day organizing committee: the Canadian Federation of Students, Steelworkers 1998, CUPE 3903, Students Against Climate Change (U of T), ecoSanity.org, and Stop Climate Chaos. We also have participation commitments from student groups at Ryerson and York. Anyone who wishes to help us build and organize this day of action is welcome to participate. We meet every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Steel Hall, 25 Cecil Street, Toronto. We are also in need of sponsors who can contribute funds or services in kind, such as printing, and we invite you to promote the event by email. Finally, if you support our cause but cannot provide a monetary or other contribution, your official endorsement of our event would be very appreciated -- all sponsors and endorsements will be acknowledged on the Toronto Climate Campaign website. Please join our efforts to voice the need for urgent, aggressive action to cut greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, to encourage ever more stringent binding emission reductions targets, and to celebrate, defend and preserve a livable world for our children and all life. 9) WEBSITE OFFERS EXTENSIVE INFO ON MINING WORLDWIDE Tracy Glynn of New Brunswick has been tracking information for the Mines and Communities website (http://www.minesandcommunities.org). The site offers an extensive amount of information about mining worldwide. 10) OTTAWA CITY COUNCIL'S LETTER TO PREMIER MCGUINTY 28 February 2008 The Honourable
Dalton McGuinty, MPP Ottawa South Dear Premier: Re: Moratorium on Uranium Mineral Prospecting, Exploration and Mining in Eastern Ontario On 27 February 2008, Ottawa City Council approved recommendations to: 1. Petition the Province of Ontario to initiate an immediate moratorium on uranium mineral prospecting, exploration and mining in Eastern Ontario and the Ottawa River watershed until such a time that all environmental and health issues related to uranium mining are resolved and that there are settlement plans for all related native land claims. 2. Petition the Province of Ontario to undertake an immediate comprehensive public review of the Mining Act, 1990. A copy of the item, as approved by Council is attached. Should you require additional information, please contact Councillor Diane Holmes, at (613) 580-2484 or at Diane.Holmes@ottawa.ca Yours sincerely, Original
signed by cc: City
Council 11) ARTICLE: ARDOCH LAWYER PLANS APPEAL Drilling could 'happen any day' at uranium mining site, Frontenac Ventures CEO says Ardoch Algonquin First Nation lawyer Christopher Reid hopes that, after today, his clients' news will start to get better. Reid said he plans to file an appeal for Robert Lovelace's fine and sentence by today. "It will be up to the court of appeal to decide whether he will be released pending the appeal," he said. "He may have to sign an undertaking not to go back to protest. When I last spoke to him he said he wasn't prepared to do that." To read the rest of this article go to... http://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2008-03-14/news/ardoch-lawyer-plans-appeal/ 12) OTTAWA PRESBYTERY UNITED CHURCH OFFERS SUPPORT Excerpts
from the meetings minutes. .Under other business The Church in Society Committee brought to the floor an open letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty concerning the standoff between Frontenac Ventures and the Ardock and Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquins. The presbytery supported the letter which asked the following: 1: In recognition of the extraordinary measures taken to draw attention to this potential environmental disaster, grant clemency to the leaders and to the community of the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquins, relieving them of any responsibility for fines or jail terms levied under the narrow judgement based on the Ontario Mining Act; 2. Obey the requirement to 'accommodate, consult with and ask for consent' from First Nations peoples before allowing development on any land that is under a land claim by a First Nation; 3. Take urgent action and immediately declare a moratorium on the exploration and development of uranium mining on disputed land in Eastern Ontario; 4. Conduct a complete review and reform of the Ontario Mining Act, taking into account the need for environmental assessments, community consultation, and First Nations Rights under the Constitution and other Canadian laws; and 5. Give serious consideration to the proposal of the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquins that a "pilot project", using the current situation, be established in order to develop a model of constructive consultation which would then become protocol in this and other situations where the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines need to consult with First Nations people. The meeting concluded with a parable and a hymn. 13) ARTICLE: MINISTER OF MINES SHOOTS DOWN URANIUM DISCUSSION Perth Courier March 12, 2008 By Gena Gibson Excerpts from the article: The new provincial minister of Northern Development and Mines offered some surprising news to Lanark County delegates at the municipal conference in late February-but offered little hope for those concerned about uranium mining in Ontario. Tay Valley Deputy-Reeve Susan Freeman, who also sits on county council, told her fellow municipal councilors on March 4 that the county delegation met with various ministers at the Ontario Good Roads Association-Rural Ontario Municipalities Association conference in Ottawa from Feb, 24 to 27. She said minister Michael Gravelle seemed open to the first two points raised, about surface-rights-only legislation and protection to property along the Rideau Canal- but that he shut down any conversation about a moratorium on uranium mining. "On a uranium moratorium, he just closed the conversation down because he said that the province's future prosperity demands nuclear energy, and that the nuclear-energy industry is a vital importance," Freeman explained. Gravelle also informed the group that lands listed as surface-rights-only along the Rideau Canal had been withdrawn from the threat of mining last October. "I was very upset that we weren't given the courtesy (of being told earlier), "Freeman admitted, but added that is was a very good step. She said efforts will still be made to have the government withdraw lands in the entire Rideau corridor, between Ottawa and Kingston. In her presentation in Gravelle Freeman brought up the issue of surface-rights-only lands, and asked for support of a resolution she helped create that was passed by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). Officials with the City of Timmins had object to the resolution, but after discussion, they agreed to support the idea as it relates to surface rights-only issues in southern Ontario, with changes planned to the AMO resolution. She said the mayor of Merrickville, who is on the county caucus, will move the amended resolution to the AMO board. "I expressed that to the minister, and he will wait for us," she added. 14) ARTICLE: ARE WE ABOUT TO WITNESS ANOTHER OKA OR IPPERWASH? By Ehab Lotayef Ex-chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, Robert Lovelace was sentenced to six months in jail and fined twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for his role in the blockade of a proposed uranium mining exploration drilling site near Robertsville, ON which lasted from mid-June to late October last year. Lovelace's sentence was not the only ruling against Algonquin leaders by Judge Cunningham in a Kingston, ON court last week. Other fines and a suspended jail sentence were imposed on the Algonquin community chiefs and the Ardoch Algonquin community as a whole. After the sentence ex-chief Lovelace said "I am in a dilemma. I want to obey Canadian law but Algonquin law instructs me that I must preserve creation. I must follow Algonquin law." What do we want to see happen in Robertsville in the coming days and months? Images of Oka, 1990, and Ipperwash, 1995, come to mind right away and I do not think we want to see a repeat of those in 2008, but what are we doing to avoid it? I just returned from the Robertsville area after spending two days there. This is my second visit to the area over the past few weeks. The first was for eight days as a part of a delegation organized by the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in early February. During most the time I was there the first time, there was no blockade of the proposed mining site since negotiations, which started as a result of the first blockade, between the province Ontario, the mining exploration company Frontenac Ventures Corporation (FVC) and the two first nations: the Shabot Obadjiwaan and Ardoch Algonquin, were still going on. We spent our days meeting with all parties involved, trying to better understand the situation and maybe help the parties get closer to each other. We met with the representative of FVC, we met with the members of both first nations, including chiefs and elders, we met with many of the settlers (as the non native residents are referred to by the natives and refer to themselves), we met with activists from the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) and we met with representatives of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) special liaison units. I was convinced from what I heard in the many meetings and from my observations that no one wants to see violence result from the situation but I was not convinced that those who hold the key to a solution, namely the Ontario government who gave the exploration concession to FVC on unceded land subject to ongoing negotiations without consulting with the first nations, is willing to do anything to avoid the deterioration of the situation. Donna Dillman, a settler grandmother went on hunger strike for 65 days last fall in protest to uranium mining at Robertsville. During her hunger strike she travelled to both Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's ridding office in Ottawa and the Ontario legislature in Queen's Park in Toronto, in an effort to bring her concerns and demands to the Premier. She finally managed to meet him but without any result since he did not take any action to resolve the problem. It is important to remember that the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that all provinces have a duty to consult with First Nations who have even a weak claim on a land before they permit any development on that land. Ontario has not consulted with any Algonquin band about this exploration. Shortly before we left Robertsville we came to know that the negotiations are breaking down. The Natives were told, by the Ontario negotiator, that they should accept limited exploratory drilling while negotiations continue. The people of the Shabot Obadjiwaan and Ardoch Algonquin First Nations found this to be unacceptable since it was clearly understood by all parties (the government Ontario, Frontenac Ventures and the two first nations) that one of the possible outcomes of the process could be that no uranium drilling would take place in their lands. They thus decided that they may have to reinforce the blockade as it was before the negotiations were agreed upon in the fall. The natives we visited, talked to and were welcomed in their homes, including ex-chief Robert Lovelace himself, a fifty-nine years old instructor at Queen's University and Sir Sandford Fleming Community College, were the last people I could associate with violence. During the blockade in the summer and fall as well as the continuing presence at the site that we witnessed, a policy of "absolutely no weapons on site" was always reminded of and enforced. I witnessed, first hand, the determination of the locals, both native and settlers, to continue opposing uranium mining in the area. It is their right, as much as it is anyone's, to keep their environment safe and healthy. I don't think they will or should be forced to back down. I do not think that jail sentences and exaggerated fines are punishments which will deter them from defending their right to safety and health. How will such punishment help keep the peace and what will such treatment push them to do is the question we should be asking ourselves. We should break the habit of only reacting after lives are lost. During my latest trip I visited Kingston and met students of Robert Lovelace and others who are determined to continue their support for and mobilization for his cause online, on campus and on the streets while other groups are lobbying the government and the Premier of Ontario seeking a political solution to this problem before it gets any worse. Who can prevent another Oka or Ipperwash and how? I think the answer is clear.
"This
beautiful song, was sung by Jan Laurie to the tune of "Ghost Riders
in the Sky" at the Ardoch Algonquin Rally in Confederation Park on
Saturday March 8th. It was written by beloved local activist, Carol Winter." The Ardoch
tribes blockaded |