MARCH 17th, 2008

1) “NO OTHER OPTION THAN JAIL TIME” AS KI IS OUT OF MONEY!
2) URANIUM PROTEST: KINGSTON RALLY OF SUPPORT FOR THOSE CHARGED
3) MESSAGE FROM SHABOT OBAAJIWAN FIRST NATION’S WAR CHIEF
4) URGENT CALL TO ACTION: WRITE BRYANT’S OFFICE
5) NEW BLOG SITE DEVOTED TO OUR COMMUNITY PROTEST
6) FEELING FRUSTRATED ABOUT NOT BEING HEARD?
7) URANIUM RELATED EVENT: MEDICINE AND SURVIVAL
8) OPEN LETTER TO PREMIER MCGUINTY FROM GREENPEACE
9) PREMIER MCGUINTY’S LETTER TO WOLFE ERLICHMAN OF CCAMU
10) ROBERT LOVELACE TO RECEIVE OPIRG AWARD
11) ARTICLE: BENEATH SASKATCHEWAN’S NUCLEAR POLL BY JIM HARDING

1) “NO OTHER OPTION THAN JAIL TIME” AS KI IS OUT OF MONEY!

Eight charged and six will go to prison, over KI’s dispute with the Ontario provincial government.

The Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug have been engaged in a struggle for the past two years against the government of Ontario and Platinex Inc., a mining company which has staked claims in their territory. The same legal team that represents Frontenac Ventures Corporation, the company that wants to explore for uranium in Frontenac County, represents Platinex.

In both cases, the government of Ontario allowed mineral staking and exploration to occur without any consultations whatsoever with First Nation communities, in clear violation of Canadian law.

During the sentencing for the contempt of court charges, the judge said that there was “No other option than jail time,” as the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation is out of money and cannot pay fines. KI has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, over the past two years, trying to protect the land from the toxic mining of platinum.

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2) URANIUM PROTEST KINGSTON RALLY OF SUPPORT FOR THOSE CHARGED

Message from the Shabot Obaajiwan First Nation, Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, Frank Morrison and the Christian Peacemaker Teams.

The original time has changed, as the lawyers are not available in the morning. Please arrive no later than 1pm to start the rally.

Kingston Court House
March 18th
Gather at 12:30pm.
Rally to begin at 1pm before the court hearing commences.

Times for the 19th and 20th to be confirmed.

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! Now is the time to have our voices heard!

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3) MESSAGE FROM SHABOT OBAAJIWAN FIRST NATION’S WAR CHIEF

March 15, 2008
By War Chief Earl Badour

As I stood and gazed at Mother Earth, my thoughts drifted back to a time immemorial when First Nations people held title and right to their traditional lands and lived with respect and to protect Mother Earth and Water and all that inhabit Mother Earth.

Then came Colonialism and with it came deceit, lies, and racism and imposed on us were laws put together by their colonial structured government that claimed title to our traditional lands.

My Brother and Sister Nations the time has come for all Aboriginal people to become unified and stand strong and proud as the people we are. Step into that political ring together and take back our title and right to continue respecting and protecting Mother Earth and Water rather than let the government of the day continue to divide and conquer us, extinguish our very existence.

We have seen in the past and still see in the present many times the deceit, lies, racism, and injustice dealt to our people for simply trying to respect and protect Mother Earth and Water by standing firm in our beliefs, culture and traditional ways.

And so, as the Seventh Fire burns bright, let us unify, stand strong and proud as the people we are, and enter the political ring together and fight to the END.

White Horse (Earl Badour Sr.)

Condoned War Chief
Shabot Obaajiwan First Nation

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4) URGENT CALL TO ACTION: WRITE BRYANT’S OFFICE

The week of Monday 17 March Flood Michael Bryant's office!

PHONE - EMAIL - WRITE - FAX
Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Ontario

The second phase of contempt charges against First Nations leaders and several non-natives involved in the Robertsville protest are scheduled to be heard Tuesday through Thursday, 18-20 March, in the Kingston Court House. Meanwhile, a Queen's University Journal article quotes Frontenac Ventures President and CEO as saying

“As of this date there is no drilling, but it could happen any day.”

Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and their allies ask all those concerned about First Nations rights and uranium mining to FLOOD Michael Bryant's office on one or more days early this week to demand that the Government of Ontario take action immediate to address the situation.

For example, they must:

- admit that it was in the wrong to issue permits to Frontenac Ventures for uranium exploration on unceded Algonquin territory without first consulting with First Nations.

- follow Manitoba's example: withdraw the exploration permits that were issued without proper consultation. (The Manitoba government recently suspended drilling on the Minago Nickel Project on Norway House Cree Nation land.)

- disallow uranium exploration and mining in the Ottawa Valley, in keeping with the Algonquin people's proclamation of September 28th, 2007.

- free political prisoner Bob Lovelace and revoke his and Paula Sherman's sentences.

- stop the drilling at the Robertsville site until there is thorough consultation with First Nations.

Please be polite, and remember to request a response to your correspondence otherwise they may not reply.

Contact Info:
Hon. Michael Bryant
803 St. Clair Ave W
Toronto ON M6C 1B9
Tel: 416-656-0943
Fax: 416-656-0875
Email: mbryant.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

Please CC your emails to: AAFNASupport@sympatico.ca

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5) NEW BLOG SITE DEVOTED TO OUR COMMUNITY PROTEST

There’s a new blog, by Sheila MacDonald that is devoted to our community protest. Check it out at…

http://nothankstouranium.wordpress.com/

Great editorials, links and wonderful videos including,
“Bury my Heart at Napanee!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHkkl3y0GAY

and “Bob Lovelace on Colonialism”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7evEdilWizo

Fantastic work Sheila!

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6) FEELING FRUSTRATED ABOUT NOT BEING HEARD?

Want to tell the world how you feel about uranium?

Come join us! Speak, Sing, Dance, Chant, Pray, Rant or Mime, a submission at the

“The Citizens' Inquiry into the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle.”

You don’t have to be an expert to know what you feel.

The more people who join us in speaking out against the mining and use of uranium, the louder our collective voice will ring in the ears of our Premier and his Ministers.

Everyone is welcome to make a submission. If you are shy, come in pairs!

Other public inquiries have had hundreds of people participate and it made a huge impact!

How to participate:
Register to have your say on any aspect of the uranium/nuclear cycle, and/or send your written and electronic submissions to: www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com

Where and when:
Sharbot Lake: April 1st. St. Andrew Anglican Church, 1028 Elizabeth Street,
Kingston: April 8th. Queen St. United Church, Corner of Queen and Clergy Streets
Peterborough: April 15th. Sadliers House, 751 George St. North
Ottawa: April 22nd. Rideau Park United Church, 2203 Alta Vista Drive

Time: from 1 to 5 p.m. and from 6 to 9 p.m.

The Citizens Coalition Against Mining Uranium, (CCAMU)
http://www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com/
http://www.ccamu.ca

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7) URANIUM RELATED EVENT: MEDICINE AND SURVIVAL

Medicine and Survival
Health and the nuclear industry – power, weapons,
Health and climate change
When: March 28, 2008
Where: Geneva Park Conference Centre, Lake Couchiching, Ontario

Sponsored by Physicians for Global Survival.
For registration details contact: Andrea Levy at: pgsadmin@web.net

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8) OPEN LETTER TO PREMIER MCGUINTY FROM GREENPEACE

February 29, 2008

The Hon. Dalton McGuinty
Premier of Ontario
Room 281, Queen’s Park
Main Legislative Building
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Via Fax: (416) 325-3745 and regular mail

Dear Premier McGuinty:

As I write this, Robert Lovelace is serving a six-month jail sentence in Lindsay’s Central East Correctional Centre. Chief Paula Sherman faced the same sentence and was forced to pay a $15,000 fine. These two leaders of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation are guilty of nothing more than peacefully protesting against uranium exploration on traditional Algonquin land.

Last year your Minister of Aboriginal Affairs spoke of your government’s clear intention to “move forward in a concrete, practical and deliberate way to forge a stronger, more positive relationship with all Aboriginal peoples in Ontario”.

Jailing aboriginal leaders does not fit with your Minister’s words. While you may argue that you cannot interfere with a court ruling the fact is Algonquin leaders have acted because your government failed to engage First Nations in meaningful consultation.

Chief Paula Sherman, Robert Lovelace, and members of the Ardoch Algonquin and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations were protesting uranium exploration by Frontenac Ventures Limited, activity that included blasting and cutting trees on traditional territory that has been subject to an Algonquin land claim for over 25 years. Neither of these First Nations was consulted prior to exploration beginning.

Growing opposition to uranium exploration is not restricted to First Nation communities. Residents of surrounding communities in Eastern Ontario are also concerned about the health risks caused by radiation released when uranium ore is disturbed, in addition to the clear-cutting, surface stripping, trenching, drilling and blasting that are common and are tolerated under Ontario’s out-dated Mining Act. Ottawa City Council recently voted 18-1 to ask the provincial government to impose a moratorium immediately on uranium prospecting, exploration and mining in Eastern Ontario. Nova Scotia has maintained a moratorium on uranium mining since 1982.

This new speculation on uranium mining in Ontario is being fueled in large part by your government’s planned $40 billion expansion of nuclear generation. Uranium prospecting is an obvious first step in the nuclear generation process that will end with communities being forced to store radioactive waste that will remain deadly for thousands of generations.
Greenpeace Canada calls on you and your government to impose an immediate moratorium on uranium exploration pending resolution of First Nations land claims and a better understanding of the health risks to our communities resulting from uranium contamination. With the spot price of uranium spiking and wrong-headed government plans to expand nuclear power, greed is motivating aggressive uranium exploration throughout Eastern Ontario and the Haliburton area.

Robert Lovelace and Chief Paula Sherman have taken a principled stand on behalf of our children and future generations. I urge you to do the same: act without delay, the time for a moratorium on uranium mining is now.
I look forward to your early response.

Sincerely,

Bruce Cox
Executive Director
Greenpeace Canada

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9) PREMIER MCGUINTY’S LETTER TO WOLFE ERLICHMAN OF CCAMU

The Premier of Ontario,
Legislative Building Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1

March 5, 2008

Mr. Wolfe Erlichman
Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium

Dear Mr. Erlichman:

Thank you for your letter regarding uranium mining. I value your views and am grateful to you for sharing them with me.

I would like to reassure you that our government understands the importance of this issue to the people of Ontario and remains committed to strengthening the protection of our environment, promoting energy conservation and, at the same time, developing sustainable forms of energy.

Uranium exploration in eastern Ontario is still at an early stage and no new drilling has taken place. Should a uranium exploration project move to the development stage, extensive provincial and federal permitting requirements and environmental protection measures will be put in place. It may interest you to know that the federal government, through the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, has primary responsibility for regulating and approving uranium mining development throughout Canada, including Ontario--a province with a long history of uranium mining.

Thank you again for your thoughts on this important issue. Our government knows that any process that brings people together to talk about their concerns and attempts to find solutions is valuable. Please accept my best wishes.

Yours truly,

Dalton McGuinty Premier

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10) ROBERT LOVELACE TO RECEIVE OPIRG AWARD

The Ontario Public Interest Research Group’s (OPIRG) board of directors is having their AGM on Tuesday March 25th. Part of the AGM is the giving out of the annual Faculty Activism award, which is being presented this year to Bob Lovelace!

Take for the OPIRG website: http://www.opirg.org/

OPIRG Provincial Mission:
The Provincial organization of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group provides an opportunity for the members of individual PIRGs and OPIRG Organizing Committees to meet, exchange ideas, educate themselves and work together.

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11) ARTICLE: BENEATH SASKATCHEWAN’S NUCLEAR POLL*

By Jim Harding

The Regina Leader Post and Saskatoon Star Phoenix both carried stories of a recent poll about nuclear expansion in Saskatchewan. The February 16th Leader Post story was titled “Most would welcome nuclear plant in Sask.” The Star Phoenix story the same day was headed “Nuclear plant supported: poll”, with a sub-head “less than 10 % oppose plan.”
If you consider poll details the subtitle should read: “if it’s not going to be built near our community, and if we don’t have to deal with the nuclear wastes in Sask.” An even more nuanced subtitle could say, “especially if I am a wealthier, older, right-leaning, non-aboriginal male.”
Such polls are an interesting slice of opinion in time, but for the most part they aren’t predictive. And they don’t tell us much about the stability of the underlying worldview. Also, the “measured” opinion can be notoriously wrong. When the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003 over 70% of Americans believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and was linked to al-Qaeda and 9/11. The only WMD found were the Depleted Uranium (DU) weapons used by the invading countries.
Collective opinion can be constructed as a commercial or political strategy. Such manipulation is particularly effective when the conditioning of opinion involves powerful emotions – such as fear after 9/11, or fear of cataclysmic climate change. While the “free press” in democratic societies should be deconstructing the manufacturing of news and opinion, concentrated corporate ownership makes sure this rarely happens. The Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA) has spent millions steering public opinion towards nuclear power as a tech fix for climate change (the “nuclear is clean” ads on TV), while independent research shows that this is no more credible than that Iraq had WMD.

Deconstructing “News” Images
The process used and the specific results of this poll require scrutiny. The Insighttrix (not tricks) press release on the poll says, “Detailed descriptions of both refining activities and nuclear power plants were relayed to respondents prior to asking their support level…” Hmmmmm! Whose description was given? The “objective” one of the industry; or the more balanced, more thorough one?
Nuclear technologies can be described in terms of the global fuel system and end uses, including involvement in weapons proliferation. They can be described in terms of narrow short-term economic benefits, which compartmentalizes thinking about the full, future consequences. In many ways the description is the belief system. It’s noteworthy that the term “nuclear refinery” is used in the poll. Just what might this be? It’s not a nuclear plant, but has something to do with “nuclear.” The common term is “uranium refinery.” I wonder just what most respondents thought they were supporting or opposing when this “nuclear refinery” was mentioned.
It’s more revealing to look at the spread of opinion rather than the results clustered for the purposes of news making. It’s particularly helpful to look at the polarity of opinion. There’s strong support for a uranium refinery among 30%, whereas there is strong opposition only among 9%. Another 36% are somewhat supportive, while 10% are somewhat opposed to a uranium refinery. Sixteen % are undecided or unsure.

Having one in three strongly supporting a uranium refinery should make the businesses involved happy. A decade of promoting a uranium refinery by just about every opinion-making body in Saskatchewan (Cameco, the AECL, Cogema, Chambers of Commerce, the corporate media, the previous NDP and present Sask Party governments) has seemingly been effective, at least in the short-term. But this is hardly a level playing field; so only one in three being strongly committed could be seen as a sign of significant resistance to such economic propaganda. Non-nuclear groups could try to change the views of the two out of three who aren’t strongly committed. Having 20% opposed is a good basis for doing this.
There’s a slight decrease in the pronuclear opinion when a nuclear power plant is involved. Strong support for this comes from 28% and strong opposition comes from 12%. Thirty-eight (38) % are somewhat supportive of a nuclear plant, whereas another 12% somewhat oppose it. The undecided and unsure have shrunk to 10%.
These, however, are abstract opinions, which, except for the strongly committed, can alter fairly quickly with events and/or deeper understanding. Context is crucial. When the controversy is brought closer to home the pronuclear views weaken and soften. Overall, support for a nuclear plant drops 28%, from 66% to 38%, if the nuclear plant was to be located near one’s community. In this more consequential context more people in Saskatchewan are opposed to nuclear power than in favour of it (44% to 38%). This shows that in spite of all the nuclear promotions most people are still sceptical about the claims that it is a benign industry. And it will be this more personally grounded view that will matter most if specific nuclear projects are proposed. When such things as more childhood leukemia existing near nuclear plants, the unreliability of cooling nuclear plants with water scarcities from global warming and the continued weapons connection become better known, these abstract beliefs will likely weaken.

The Table Turns on Nuclear Wastes
This reality check is even more pronounced with nuclear wastes. The headline for the news stories could have read: More people oppose a nuclear waste facility in Saskatchewan (48% to 44%). The polarities are very revealing, with 32% strongly opposed compared to only 16% strongly in favour. And, most significant, those strongly opposed to a nuclear facility are a larger group than those who strongly supported a uranium refinery.
This is newsworthy but got no headlines. After a decade of the AECL and CNA running their “public acceptance” campaign, trying to convince us that the industry-based Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is working on a long-term solution, the accumulating problem of nuclear wastes remains the industry’s Achilles heel. While the economic development (value-added) argument for a uranium refinery is the wedge issue for nuclear expansion, deeply held common sense concerns about nuclear wastes and future generations remains the wedge issue for those who want to move towards a sustainable society.
The results suggest that promotions about economic benefits, and that nuclear is “clean” compared to fossil fuels, have had some impact on public opinion. If end uses, nuclear wastes and risks of proliferation can be kept psychologically distant, then the short-term benefits remain more attractive. In social psychological terms, cognitive dissonance can be managed. When there is the prospect of a nuclear power plant close to one’s home and community, or nuclear wastes being stored in the province’s north, the dissonance increases. If Saskatchewan people knew more about the radioactive contamination and indications of greater cancers and illness in Port Hope, Ontario from Cameco’s uranium processing plant, and the fact that a $260 million dollar clean up will still leave 2 million cubic meters of contaminated soil in the town site, the temptations to build such a plant here would immediately be tempered. (A story in the March Walrus magazine may already be making a difference.)

Youth and Indigenous People Most Opposed to Nuclear Expansion
The socio-demographics are noteworthy. According to this poll wealthier, politically right-leaning men are more likely to be pronuclear. The nuclear industry clearly depends on those who still see their self-interest as tied to economic growth at any cost. It also confirms that women are more likely to value non-economic values such as environmental preservation and community wellbeing.
And support for nuclear expansion is weaker amongst Indigenous than Settler people. For decades the uranium mining industry has concentrated on winning over First Nations and Métis groups in the north with promises of jobs and “northern development.” These promotions don’t appear to have been generally effective. Concerns about protecting the land, water and air are starting to bring together Indigenous and Settler groups, and this will grow, as the ecological implications of nuclear expansion are better understood.
That youth between 18-34 years “are most opposed” to a nuclear waste facility in Saskatchewan should be very encouraging to those working for a non-nuclear future. This suggests that the nuclear-technology paradigm, which came out of the nuclear arms race and has tried to market itself as “the peaceful atom” is losing its grip on those growing up face-to-face with the prospects of major ecological crises. Rather than buying into another technocratic fix, youth are more likely to see the need for a conversion strategy that embraces renewable, sustainable energy sources.
Support for nuclear expansion is strongest among those who have accepted industry promotions, especially that nuclear is less damaging to the environment than are fossil fuels. While this cluster of beliefs can provide some sort of “moralistic” pretence for supporting nuclear, it is likely that the same strata (wealthier, older, right-leaning men) will strongly support developing the environmentally destructive tar sands in Saskatchewan. Underneath this clash of opinion is the fundamental question of whether one supports our economy becoming even more dependent on the export of non-renewable resources such as uranium and oil; or, alternatively, supports conversion towards a sustainable society. Though this poll has been reported in such a way that it will reinforce the pronuclear agenda, many of its results suggest that the nuclear agenda is very vulnerable to a deepening awareness about the imperatives of sustainability.
Challenging the erroneous promotions of nuclear being “clean”, building stronger alliances between Indigenous and Settler people and better connecting with the up-and-coming generation who realize it is their future that is being undermined with the build-up of greenhouse gases, cancerous radiation and nuclear wastes, will accelerate the shift of public opinion back to the future.

* Jim Harding is a retired professor of both environmental and justice studies and author of Canada’s Deadly secret” Saskatchewan Uranium and the Global Nuclear System (Fernwood, 2007). An earlier version of this was published in the March 5, 2008 Prairie Messenger.