|
MARCH 28th, 2008 MEETING REMINDER |
IN THIS ISSUE: |
|
1)
ARDOCH ALGONQUIN & SETTLER COMMUNITY MEETING
Date: Sunday,
March 30th 2) UPCOMING URANIUM RELATED EVENTS See the CCAMU website for information on most of these events. PERTH
MARCH IN MARCH
Last Wednesday (March 26), the members of a small group who call themselves simply the Aboriginal Grannies decided to go into action as Aboriginal women have done for hundreds of years - they stood together in a circle and prayed and sang in the Anishnabe language for the peaceful resolution of the struggle now engaging the Algonquins of Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations, and the release from jail of one of their leaders, Bob Lovelace. The Grannies made their stand outside MPP Jeff Leal's office in Peterborough, although they knew the office was closed that day. They plan to return next Wednesday (April 2nd), and I imagine if any of us want to stand with them in solidarity, we would not be turned away. For further information, or to send a message of support, please contact Audrey at caskane@nexicom.net Jean Koning 4) NEW EVENT: BENEFIT CONCERT SPONSORED BY KINGSTON MUSIC COMMUNITY Date: May
10 For more info contact Ellen at Leopard Frog Studios lfrog@kingston.net 5) NEW EVENT: SENATOR DYCK TO SPEAK ON ABORIGINAL JUSTICE ISSUES The Ottawa South Federal NDP invite you to a Women's Breakfast hosted by Senator Lillian Dyck. She will be speaking on the topic of "Aboriginal peoples, the Senate and Discriminatory Legislation: The Personal is Political." It will be held on Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at 7:30 am in Room 172 of the East Block on Parliament Hill. We hope that as many of you as possible will attend. It is still very important that you let us know if you are coming as we will need to notify security. Please call Me at (613) 736-9856 or email me at votendp1@gmail.com Kevin Kinsella, 6) ARTICLE SENT IN BY DR. GORDON EDWARDS "A message to those fighting uranium exploration and mining activities: One of my
long-time friends and colleagues, Dr. Michael Dworkind (M.D.) was recently
in India attending the world congress of the International Physicians
for the Prevention of Nuclear War -- While there he picked up a few copies of this impressive 2007 report of health effects on indigenous people in India living in close proximity to a uranium mining operation. The study was carried out by a team of medical doctors using 34 trained fact-gatherers. Data was gathered from all the 2118 households in five villages close to the mines, and was compared with data from all 1904 households in villages 30-35 km away from the mines. The results: statistically significant increases in congenital deformities, sterility, cancers, and shortened life span among those living close to the mines. I have taken the liberty of scanning the booklet and putting the scanned images into a word document which I have attached to this e-mail. Gordon Edwards (Editors Note : This document will be available on the CCAMU website within the next few days. Look under the URANIUM SCIENCE tab and then the BLACK MAGIC OF URANIUM IN JADUGODA (INDIA) subtab.) 7) LINKS TO DR. HELEN CALDICOTT VIDEO FOOTAGE Taken from Dr. Caldicott's website: The single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises, Dr Helen Caldicott, has devoted the last 35 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1938, Dr Caldicott received her medical degree from the University of Adelaide Medical School in 1961. She founded the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at the Adelaide Children's Hospital in 1975 and subsequently was an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and on the staff of the Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, Mass., until 1980 when she resigned to work full time on the prevention of nuclear war. To read
more go to, To see online video footage of Dr. Caldicott speaking, click on the links below: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6178944881046922561 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5298434686358714125&q=helen+caldicott http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8908549534794952545&q=helen+caldicott http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4397307903287515932&q=helen+caldicott 8) LETTER TO THE EDITOR: MCGUINTY FAILS TO ADDRESS PLEASE FOR MINING REVIEW The Ottawa
Citizen http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/letters/story.html?id=c21d9bc7-87e4-47d9-8e05-4862772e25f3 In Tuesday's budget, the Ontario government announced that: "Mining has been one of Ontario's great recent success stories. To encourage further growth, the government will invest $20 million for geological mapping and close to $7 million to implement the Ontario Mineral Development Strategy." With that, Premier Dalton McGuinty sent a clear message to more than 2,000 Ottawa residents who signed a petition against uranium mining in Eastern Ontario, and the elected officials of Ottawa and Kingston that passed a motion asking the province to enact a moratorium. His message was: "I'm not listening!" Sadly, the message is correct. Our premier is ignoring the calls from the City of Ottawa, which on Feb. 27 approved recommendations to petition 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 and to petition Ontario to undertake an immediate comprehensive public review of the Mining Act, 1990. Mr. McGuinty was mailed notice of the City of Ottawa's vote on Feb. 28. To date, he has not yet responded publicly. Disgusting. It is immensely irresponsible for Mr. McGuinty to allow uranium prospecting in areas near Sharbot Lake that form a particularly beautiful and pristine part of the Ottawa River watershed. Mr. McGuinty claims this activity is OK because the prospecting is at an early stage and no drilling has taken place. He tries to calm people and tells them not to worry because if the project moves to a development stage, it would have to go through provincial and federal permitting requirements and environmental protection measures would be put in place. His assurances offer no comfort to Ottawans knowledgeable about the full life cycle of uranium, or the dirty catastrophe that occurred in Saskatchewan in 1989, when two million litres of contaminated water spilled at the Rabbit Lake mine. At the time, the Rabbit Lake mine had to adhere to extensive provincial and federal permitting requirements and environmental protection measures. But it did not stop the spill from happening. Today, the people of Saskatchewan and future generations are stuck cleaning up the mining company's mess. Mr. McGuinty should be ashamed of himself for allowing mining to proceed in the Ottawa River watershed. He should immediately change his tune. Mr. McGuinty needs to start representing the interests of the public, instead of the interests of mining companies, such as Frontenac Ventures. Trevor Haché, 9) LETTER TO ROBERT LOVELACE FROM WQ-CAMU March 25, 2008 Robert Lovelace Dear Robert Lovelace, The members of the West Québec Coalition Against Mining Uranium (WQ-CAMU) stand with you and your community in unity as you face one of the most affronting miscarriages of justice in the history of Canadian jurisprudence. It seems that the concept of "due process" fails to serve those brave people, like yourself, who have gone to great ends to assure the environmental health and physical well-being of all residents in the Sharbot Lake area. The unforgivable deafness of the Ontario government and of corporate interests is beyond all comprehension. Nothing should have a higher priority than the basic rights of a community for a safe and clean environment, the freedom to pursue traditional economic activities, and the liberty to follow its spiritual existence. It is clear that the scales tip in favour of those who have money to seek legal closure to questions of human survival. But the Earth speaks, and all residents of Canada bear witness to the injustice of the sentencing in Kingston on the Friday, 15th February 2008. Mother Earth will have the last word. We send you our moral support. In Solidarity, The Members |