At Stake

Mining & Indigenous Resistance: Sipakapa to Sharbot Lake with Special Guest Bob Lovelace

2009-02-02T15:08:00.001-05:00

From: "Uranium News" <uraniumnews@mail.ccamu.ca
To: uraniumnews@mail.ccamu.ca

Wednesday February 4th, 2:00 - 4:00pm
Mining & Indigenous Resistance: Sipakapa to Sharbot Lake
with Special Guest Bob Lovelace
Room: Dunning Hall, Room 11 (Lower Level) - Queen's University, Kingston, ON

Film Screening and Discussion about the ongoing resistance of Indigenous communities, all over the world, to mining development.

The screening of Sipakapa No Se Vende/Sipakapa Is Not For Sale, a documentary chronicling the struggle of Maya communities in Guatemala to exercise their right to consultation about mining expansion into their lands, will be followed by a discussion about Indigenous resistance to mining in Canada, specifically the ongoing struggle of the Ardoch Algonquins to stop the development of a uranium mine on their lands This talk will be led by BOB LOVELACE, a Professor in the Department of Global Development Studies and the former Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation.

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Protest Uranium Mine Exemption from Mining Act Reform

2008-08-28T18:13:00.002-04:00

Anyone interested in going please message me.. maybe we can carpool or take a train...

I apologize for the late notice.

Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium, (CCAMU)
Call to Eastern Ontario municipalities, community groups, and concerned citizens to:
Protest Uranium Mine Exemption from Mining Act Reform,
Radisson Hotel Entrance, 1 Johnson Street,
Kingston, Ontaqrio,
Thursday, August 28th, 6 PM.

The Ministry of Mines and Northern Development is holding hearings on the proposed reform of Ontario's antiquated Mining Act. While we support restrictions on the "free entry" of mining companies and prospectors on land claimed by aboriginals and private land owners, we question why uranium mines should be exempted. Uranium mines pollute watersheds. The proposed mine in North Frontenac County, near Sharbot Lake, would adversely affect the Mississippi and Ottawa rivers. Twenty two regional municipalities, including Ottawa,Kingston and Frontenac County have voted for a moratorium on Uranium mining in Eastern Ontario. How many does it take for our government to act on our concerns?

It is hypocritical for the provincial government to claim federal jurisdiction on uranium whilst it has granted the permits to Frontenac Ventures for exploration and would collect revenues from these mines. In addition the Ministry of the Environment has charged Frontenac Ventures with multiple breaches of provincial environmental regulations. How do you grant the permits, collect the revenues, and regulate the operations if you have no jurisdiction?

We propose an information picket at the entrance to the hearings. Of course the event will be peaceful and non disruptive. Speakers, such as Bob Lovelace, and municipal representatives will voice their objections to the exemption of uranium mines. The 6 PM protest will include music and street theater.

Contact Information: Paul Gervan, gervan@sympatico.ca Tel: 613-387-3579

Source Water Protection (SWC) committee)

2008-08-01T09:56:00.002-04:00

Hi everybody (wonder if the ppl of u @ the cottage with or without internet are the lucky ones...;)),

hope u enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful water of Canada's lakes and rivers - I have an addition to my previous post, came in yesterday with the U-news (www.ccamu.ca), in case you were wondering about the exact location in Plevna:
SOURCE WATER PROTECTION (SWC) COMMITTEE MTG, AUG 7TH, 1 PM The next monthly public meeting of the Source Water Protection (SWC) committee will be held on August 7, 2008 @ 1:00 p.m in Plevna at the Clar-Miller Hall, 6598 Buckshot Lake Road, Plevna, Ontario.

The SWC reports to the ministry of the Environment (MOE) via their chairperson and is sanctioned through the 'Clean Water Act' to represent the Mississippi and Rideau watersheds.

This is an important meeting since a response from the MOE based on actions taken from a member inquiry and public input is on the agenda. The Ministry of the Environment will be making a presentation responding to the motions of the SPC passed in February regarding Uranium. There will also be representatives present from the local Health Unit(s) and Ministry of Northern Development and Mines.

Persons can book a five-minute time slot if they wish to address the committee. For more information on the SWP committee for our region and to see the meeting agenda (when posted) please see
http://www.mrsourcewater.ca/welcome/index.html (click on 'Source Protection Committee' then 'Agendas, Minutes & Dispositions')

zipping across H2O

2008-07-24T18:15:00.006-04:00

18 Jul 2008 from PEACEWORK's MySpace blog

Current mood: blissful
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

just when you think, "oh no, that was a split second too late or too early", feel yourself tipping over backwards already calculating whether it's going to save damage if you jump off and where the mast is going to go, you see the horizon tilting and the board turning into an alligator under your too fast and/or slow moves with your greenhorn cut up barefoot soles - THAT is when the sail catches you and the boom pulls so hard in your fists that the chalice in your palms will disguise your formerly fragile hands within two days. Shovels, that's what I have now. "Pull the gas in slowly now", he yells across the water, and my body tells me to step out both feet and lean into the wind to come up with the least against that pulling wind that carries me FOR FREE, while the board divides the gusty river with me on it. I f..g did it. I am wind surfing.

Yeeeeehaaaaa!

And when you're in it, it's fast. No thinking, just feeling it move you, feeling where it wants to be on the sail, moving, tilting, changing, adjusting your position, careful, not to hurt your feet on the router end.

The board so tippy, the possibilities of a freely turnable mast endless, the adrenalin rush under full sail doesn't compare to much other. There is no stable position on that board except under wind. Tip the mast to the front it turns downwind, tilt it back u go into the wind. What a fine line that is, and how little can throw u out of it... it's like dancing, though: don't look at your feet, just never let your sail out of focus. The wind is your friend, just gotta feel out how to ride it... wow, riding the wind. How lucky am I that other people invented all that already??

This whole mast-boom-sail-board-and-router-thing is such a genius cohesion, but actually very simple when you look at it. Brilliant, really. I love it.

Scott showed me how to turn behind the sail in tipping the mast over to the front of the board - in weak winds, but nonetheless - to-tal-ly cool. I haven't tried it yet, but just because of the stupid thunderstorms and the wind dying down yesterday.

Pride or some triumphant feeling in my chest. Standing on shore with the legs straight first since an hour and shaking. Maybe just coming off the a and trying to breathe, too. I knew all along that I wanted to do it and that I would like it. The first time I remember trying it, I was in an English class on Malta, with my mom and brother. We lived in families, they together in one, me in a different one. I remember the really big cockroaches on the streets at night, tea and toast with orange marmalade for breakfast and lots of salty water down my nostrils while trying to cross over to an island with my things over my head - I turned around... back? In any case, I never made it to the island, didn't drown either, though. We had access to some kind of beach club close to the school, where they had some boards. The ones I tried had the mast coming out of the lock while trying to pull the sail up, so I gave up pretty fast, not without wrecking my back. The whole thing was free, but no lessons and pitiful equipment - tasted like a cheap copy of the real thing then, and it makes me so happy to have gone with that instinct and kept on looking for it...

I remember my disappeared dear cousin Elmar inviting me for lessons, he spent a lot of time windsurfing when we were still all living in G... he is blond, so blond, his hair is so fair...

I never went. Now I feel like going to Mexico (where he was last seen) just to try to find him, do something instead of just sitting here. I am debating if a facebook page would help finding him... it's like admitting that he's lost when u start your search. It's like believing that u can still find him at the same time...

The younger sister of my grandmother (my mother's mom's sister) and her husband, my favorite uncle Mietek once taught me some sailing lessons in an optimist - I must have been a kid then, the wall was still up and everybody needed to get through these nasty border controls while traveling to Berlin or Szcezchyn, where the daughters of the couple live. I can still feel the water on my arse, while some blond almost-man pulled me back to shore off some lake, rope-attached to his motor boat, I was silently dying of shame while his stone grey-blue eyes stared into the open. I didn't speak Polish, and I don't remember him saying anything in German to me...

Except for the day when I managed to cut my feet up pretty painfully because I couldn't get it together in that kind of super wind and drifted around more or less wasting myself on trying to pull the sail up in the gusting winds, I caught myself thinking "yeah, aunt Renate and uncle Mietek would be proud of me now if they were still alive", when they were probably feeling really amused at best to watch my total failing which demonstrated sufficiently how I had not grasped any of the sketches on the chalk board concerning wind direction, turn line, tacking and so forth, that they wasted on me during that theory lesson.

It's all behind me now. If only my feet's cuts would stop burning... we used to jam in the morning, now it's more like: "What's the wind like, honey?"

Anybody heard the weather forecast?

After all that summer leisure I'd like to point out two things:

1. Merrickville residents saved so much water that the town is now raising the water fees. That sure is one hell of a policy in terms of motivation. Wrong signal, daddy-oh. Or are you trying to scratch up the lacking four million for the treatment plant? Meanwhile it can only appear decadent to flush our excrements with potable water instead of composting or fermenting to use the remaining energy...

2. I'd like to share Janet Stavinga's invitation to the next Source Protection Report SPC meeting (no idea about this abbreviation) on August 7th, @ 1pm in the Plevna community hall.

Janet is the chair of the Mississippi Rideau Source Protection Region located @

3889 Rideau Valley Drive, Manotick ON K4M 1A5
1-800-267-3504 ext 1147 or 1 613 692 3571

In the add in the Advance Weekender from today is a lot more interesting information and one can probably find out about that here
www.mrsourcewater.ca and here
www.ebr.gov.on.ca (u may wanna comment until deadline Aug 4th on proposed legislation detailing how to prepare technical assessment reports, registry 010-3873) and by emailing her here: janet.stavinga@mrsourcewater.ca,

but attend in any case, because "This meeting will be interesting as we hear from the Province as to whether or not uranium exploration is a significant threat to our municipal drinking water systems" (from Janet's invitation).

I can't wait to see whom they will send to tell those lies...

peace always, my friends, and a good night!

Freed AA chief negociator Lovelace facing new charges?

2008-06-02T13:09:00.007-04:00

Here is a very informative article about the legal situation in the dispute of Frontenac Ventures and First Nations about mining Uranium in the Land O'Lakes...

The following footage dates from March 2008, when Justice Douglas Cunningham dropped charges for white protesters and settlers, however, members of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation remained jailed. After 105 days of imprisonment, part of it in a high security facility, Robert Lovelace was freed by a Toronto appeal judge on May 27th.

Quote of The Kingston Whig Standard article:

"The Appeal Court judges expressed some shock not only at the length of Lovelace's sentence, but also that aboriginal law was not considered.

Appeal Court Justice Kathryn Feldman suggested that aboriginal law should be incorporated when considering cases that involve Canada's aboriginal people.

Section 35 of the Constitution Act, which says "the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed," seems to support this suggestion.

It wouldn't be the first time the federal government has taken such action. When the British conquered the French in North America, they allowed them to keep their civil law.

Lovelace claimed he had to defy the judge's injunction because it was his duty under Algonquin law to protect the land from the damage caused by uranium mining.

The Ardoch Algonquins believe the British left the land where the mine site is, as well as a large part of the Ottawa Valley, to their people as part of a 1763 agreement called the Royal Proclamation.

After being released Wednesday, Lovelace said the struggle of the Ardoch Algonquins is not with the prospecting company but with the provincial government and its antiquated mining act, which allows private companies to prospect and mine on people's property without consultation or permission.

"I think we need to sit down and talk to Frontenac Ventures," he said.

Frontenac Ventures founder George White couldn't be reached yesterday."

(End of quote of Kingston Whig Standard)

In the meantime, First Nations Law expert Micheal Swinwood, who represents Ontario and Quebec Algonquins, hopes to bring the ignorance of Aboriginal rights in Ontario to the attention of federal authorities:

Uranium News

2008-05-26T13:58:00.005-04:00

Hello, dear readers,

here's the latest Uranium news. All previous editions can be looked up on ccamu's website: www.ccamu.ca. Looking forward to some feedback for the Toronto events today and Wednesday (KI appeal, s.b.). Check back soon for Michael Swinwood video footage when he appeared as a friend of court in the Kingston courthouse in March 08.

URANIUM NEWS
http://www.ccamu.ca

MAY 24, 2008

IN THIS ISSUE:

1) PRESS RELEASE: KI 6 TO BE RELEASED TODAY, BOB LOVELACE TO REMAIN INCARCERATED
2) AAFN MEETING MABERLY HALL SUNDAY
3) URANIUM PRODUCER WARNS OF LAKE ONTARIO POLLUTION
4) YOUTUBE VIDEO: DEPLETED URANIUM IN THE HUMAN BODY
5) DONNA DILLMAN LOOKING FOR A RIDE
6) NEW BRUSWICK: URANIUM PUBLIC SESSIONS PLANNED
7) ARTICLE: BRUCE COX DEFENDS GREENPEACE (AND TAKES ON PATRICK MOORE)
8) TIRELESS ANTI-URANIUM ACTIVIST DIES AT AGE 93
9) LETTER TO THE EDITOR: BILL ADAMSON
10) LETTER TO THE URANIUM NEWS: THE LAW IS WRONG!
11) ARTICLE: CAMECO TESTING FOR URANIUM LEAK IN LAKE ONTARIO
12) ARTICLE: BARRICK GOLD PROTESTERS COME TO ARDOCH
13) ARTICLE: STAR-LADEN LOVELACE BENEFIT SELLS OUT
14) ARTICLE: THE URANIUM BOOM HITS WESTERN U.S.
15) ARTICLE: URANIUM SHORTAGE HITS NUCLEAR POWER

1) PRESS RELEASE: KI 6 TO BE RELEASED TODAY, BOB LOVELACE TO REMAIN INCARCERATED

A motion was heard today in Toronto asking for the immediate release of political prisoners Bob Lovelace, and the KI 6 pending the appeal of the sentencing for contempt which will be heard on Wednesday May 28.

Members of KI will be released today because Platinex, the platinum exploration company operating within their lands prior to the blockade, agreed to no drilling during this week leading up to the appeal. Frontenac Ventures, on the other hand, refused to make a similar guarantee to refrain from exploration work in Algonquin territory. Such a gesture would have allowed Bob Lovelace to be released pending the appeal under the same circumstances as KI leaders and council members. Bob Lovelace, therefore is to remain incarcerated and will be transported to the appeal hearing on Wednesday.

For more information on what transpired in court today, contact Chris Reid who is legal council for both Ardoch First Nation and KI.

He can be reached at 1-416-466-9928 or lawreid@aol.com

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2) AAFN MEETING MABERLY HALL SUNDAY

Ardoch Algonquin First Nation will be having its regular council meeting at Maberly Hall on Sunday and the public is invited to join them at 3:30 for a general meeting and update on the uranium issue.

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3) URANIUM PRODUCER WARNS OF LAKE ONTARIO POLLUTION

(Editor's Note: What does the American media know that our Canadian media ignores? -LD)

By IAN AUSTEN
May 22, 2008
The News York Times

OTTAWA — Cameco, the world’s largest uranium producer, has told the Canadian nuclear regulator that its refinery might have leaked uranium, arsenic and fluorides into Lake Ontario.

To read the rest of this article go to,

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/business/worldbusiness/22pollute.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1211555119-jpMqdMVxS9oLzE0laQtsFw

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4) YOUTUBE VIDEO: DEPLETED URANIUM IN THE HUMAN BODY

A video of Sister Rosalie Bertell, PhD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgQ79-oDX2o

Event: An Afternoon with Rosalie Bertell Ph.D.
Bloor Street United Church
300 Bloor Street West, Toronto Ontario
May 31st 1:30pm - 3:30pm

CCAMU's Donna Dillman will be speaking at this event.

To read the bio of the Anti-nuclear Nun go to,

http://www.ratical.org/radiation/RBanNun.html

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5) DONNA DILLMAN LOOKING FOR A RIDE

Donna Dillman is looking for a ride from Toronto to the Lanark/Perth area on the late afternoon or evening of Sat. May 31st. She will be attending the rally at Queen's Park and staying over in Toronto to take part in (and say a few words at) the Rosalie Bertell Luncheon from 1:30 to 3:30 on the Sat.

Please email her directly at donna54@superaje.com

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6) NEW BRUSWICK: URANIUM PUBLIC SESSIONS PLANNED

Public sessions planned on controversial uranium issue

May 20th, 2008
The Daily Gleaner

The provincial government will hold public information sessions on uranium exploration and mining in Fredericton and Moncton next month.

"Our primary focus is ensuring that New Brunswickers have all the facts about uranium exploration and mining," Natural Resources Minister Donald Arseneault said in a news release.

To read the rest of this article go to,

http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/cityregion/article/301105

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7) ARTICLE: BRUCE COX DEFENDS GREENPEACE (AND TAKES ON PATRICK MOORE)

May 20, 2008
By Marni Soupcoff

Patrick Moore used an article about himself in the National Post on May 1 to launch yet another tirade against Greenpeace (Full Comment, May 12.)

In his article, he accuses Greenpeace and other environmental groups of “name-calling.” For the record, no one with Greenpeace called him any names in the article and no one from Greenpeace Canada was even quoted.

Mr. Moore took offence at the term “Eco Judas,” referenced by the writer. It may be harsh, but consider this: Mr. Moore left Greenpeace and now works for the nuclear industry, logging companies, the fish-farm industry and other large corporations he once opposed. His positions on climate change, nuclear power, clear cutting forests and uranium mining are the opposite of every major environmental organization in the country. How should one characterize his behaviour?

To read the rest of this article go to,

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/05/20/bruce-cox-defends-greenpeace-and-takes-on-patrick-moore.aspx

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8) TIRELESS ANTI-URANIUM ACTIVIST DIES AT AGE 93

For those who didn't know her, she was a giant among activists.

http://www.econet.sk.ca/sk_enviro_champions/maisie_shiell.html

I first met her in 1977, during the Bayda Inquiry Into Uranium Mining in Saskatchewan, and was immediately struck by her strength of character and her keen determination to understand the science as well as the societal sanity needed to confront this multibillion dollar industry.

In February 19 2008 I was in Saskatoon submitting my comments on Cameco's Environmental Impact Statement for the Midwest Uranium Project (see attachment below), and there was Maisie, 93 years old, submitting her own comments with characteristic gusto.

Yesterday, May 21, 2008, Maisie passed away. Even in death she continues to inspire and provide leadership.

Gordon Edwards

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9) LETTER TO THE EDITOR: BILL ADAMSON

The Star Phoenix

Uranium cycle gives Saskatchewan "value subtracted" benefits

Government leaders and newspaper editors have glommed onto a new buzzword—“value added” which they repeat ad nauseum regarding the uranium chain. They only have dollar signs shining in their eyes, only jobs and business on the brain. They do not have the honesty to mention the other sides of the equation. They do not list any of the hazards regarding people’s health, effects on the biota or water, the radioactivity released into the air currents. Any one who raises a critique is branded an “anti-nuke radical.”

**No mention of Dr. Chris Busby of England, specialist in radiation and epidemiology, stating that the proposed open-pit mine at Midwest will send radioactive dust and radon gas on the wind currents sweeping down across Winnipeg!

**No mention of the presentation by Dr. Gordon Edwards warning that the regulatory limits of radiation exposure do not provide a guarantee against adverse health effects, and that radium -226 and polonium -210 and thorium contained in millions of tonnes of mining wastes will emit alpha radiation for thousands of years.

**No mention that the European Committee on Radiation Risk proclaims that our radiation exposure limits are twice too high—with lots of cancer down the road for our workers.

**No mention that the tritium levels in the Great Lakes is rising rapidly from the nearby reactors in Ontario.

**No mention of increased radiation swirling in the wind currents of the planet from thousands of bomb tests, the Gulf War, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl meltdowns, plus the fall out of depleted uranium from ammunition.

**No mention of 30,000 cubic metres of water per day used in conversion refineries.

**No mention of thousands of boreholes releasing radon into the air, and contamination into our aquifers.

**No mention that Wall Street is very reluctant to supply $12 billion for each reactor, taking many years for construction before electrical production.

Members of the public are not dumb when they do their equations!

-Bill Adamson

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10) LETTER TO THE URANIUM NEWS: THE LAW IS WRONG!

Please advertise the recent documentary Toxic Trespass released last Wednesday night.

I am not a TV watcher but somehow was there to see this startling program at 10 pm on TVO.

There is more information at www.toxictrespass.ca and www.toxicnation.ca and at www.TVOparent.

It directly aligns with the message that you are doing such a wonderful job to send to everyone.

I will be the next grandmother to go on a hunger strike if the government does not come to its senses very, very soon!

I am the worm lady. We raise earthworms and teach the healthy soil food web to school children and we encourage personal responsibility for organic waste recycling through composting and we grow healthy food to feed people.

I cannot just continue to do my little bit of good when the government who is supposed to be caring for the people and the justice system that is supposed to be protecting the people is doing so much harm.

I can only believe that to not react they are only stuffing their own pockets financially and waiting for someone else to clean up their dirty act.

It is this total lack of responsibility and passing the blame that has led to the problems we are faced with and it is now up to every single citizen to demand accountability by government.

Bob Lovelace should not be in jail. Michael Schmidt should not be in court.

The law is wrong!

Geraldine Baker

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11) ARTICLE: CAMECO TESTING FOR URANIUM LEAK IN LAKE ONTARIO

By Unnati Gandhi

The Goble & Mail

May 23, 2008

The world's largest uranium producer is looking into whether the element, along with arsenic and fluorides, might have leaked into Lake Ontario from its Port Hope processing plant.

To read the rest of this article go to,

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080523.CAMECO23/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/

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12) ARTICLE: BARRICK GOLD PROTESTERS COME TO ARDOCH

By Jeff Green
Frontenac News

May 14th

Leaders from aboriginal communities in New South Wales, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Chile paid a visit to Ardoch Algonquin First Nation Honourary Chief Harold Perry this past weekend. They were on their way to Ottawa, where they will be meeting with MPs in a bid to convince them to ask Canada to rein in the worldwide activities of Canadian-owned Barrick Gold Corporation.

To read the rest of this article go to,

http://www.newsweb.ca/2008/08-19_may_15/barrick_gold.html

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13) ARTICLE: STAR-LADEN LOVELACE BENEFIT SELLS OUT

The Kingston Whig-Standard

A star-studded benefit concert to raise money for imprisoned Algonquin protester Bob Lovelace has sold out.

To read the rest of this article go to,

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1031068

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14) ARTICLE: THE URANIUM BOOM HITS WESTERN U.S.

May 19, 2008

By Richard Martin
Energy Tribune

Thanks to soaring commodity prices, the U.S. uranium mining sector is enjoying a comeback – and that is causing conflict in several western states.

To read the rest of this article go to,

http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=892

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15) ARTICLE: URANIUM SHORTAGE HITS NUCLEAR POWER

Some of the uranium mining projects have been hampered due to delay in getting environmental clearances and also on account of the difficult terrain in which the mines are located

May 21, 2008
The Hindu Business Line

Mumbai- May 20 Shortage of uranium and a shut-down at four plants dragged down revenues and profit of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd for the fiscal ended March 2008.

To read the rest of this article go to,

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/05/21/stories/2008052152480100.htm

Saying no to uranium mining

2007-08-07T14:01:00.001-04:00

The Perth Courier Editorial Aug 1st 2007

By now, most people in the Perth area are aware of the efforts of area native and non-native residents to prevent uranium from being mined in the Snow Road-Robertsville-Elphin area, northwest of Perth.

In the past, we have discussed the frighteningly uncivilized nature of the Mining Act, legislation that allows mining companies to march onto the private properties of rural residents and begin digging for minerals. If landowners don’t own the mineral rights, only the surface rights of their properties, this is perfectly legal.

We have published stories about one man’s efforts to bring attention to the act by publicizing what happened to his property in Tay Valley Township. Large ditches were dug on his property and when he expressed concern about the open holes and potential danger they posed, he was told that it was illegal for him to fill in these holes. Think about it: someone came onto his property, dug trenches, left them exposed and held outdated mining regulations over his head if he attempted to make his property somewhat safe again.

Out of the threat of such incidents recurring throughout the township, the Citizens’ Mining Advisory Group, or CMAG, was formed. Through the efforts of many, a number of mining claims against properties in the rich residential and cottage area surrounding Perth were abandoned. (This group will hold its annual meeting on Aug. 11 at 10 a.m. at the North Burgess Hall on Narrows Lock Road. The public is welcome and will likely find area candidates for this fall’s provincial election in attendance.)

Mining has again taken centre stage in this area, and this time, has received national attention. While the threat is not as much toward private properties in this case, it involves a sought-after end product that poses a potential greater risk to the health of those throughout the Ottawa Valley. It’s not about gaping holes on private property, but potentially deadly uranium.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the matter, and now that the price being offered for uranium has rebounded, chances are those who see nothing but dollar signs will put up a strong fight against those who oppose such mining.

Uranium mining companies claim such operations are safe if they are carried out properly. But what happens if an accident happens? Do we simply say "oops" and try not to cry over a little spilled salt? We’re not mining salt here. "Oops" is not something anyone wants to hear.

A simple Internet search brings up far too many cases of how such mining has harmed Canadian communities.

Six stories have appeared in the Courier since April about the quest for uranium in the Crotch Lake area and those who are leading the charge to ensure this quest fails. Only the sixth and latest story offered the opinions of someone who came forward in favour of such mining.

Provincial governments on Canada’s east and west coasts have imposed moratoriums on uranium mining. When will Ontario and the rest of the provinces follow their lead?

If no such freeze on this type of mining is introduced in Ontario, mining might proceed in the Crotch Lake area, and possibly without incident. But is that a gamble we’re all willing to take? This area is all upstream of the City of Ottawa.

If something does happen, who is left to live in the shadow of a mistake?

Urgent: Stop New Nuclear Power Plants

2007-08-07T13:54:00.001-04:00


	AN URGENT CALL TO STOP THE $50 BILLION NUKE POWER GIVE-AWAY From Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and Harvey Wasserman: Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) As early as this Friday, Congress may approve legislation allowing the Department of Energy to approve $50 billion and more in federal loan guarantees to build new nuclear power plants. Take Action! The nuclear industry itself has made it clear that this astonishing taxpayer give-away is the only way new atomic reactors will be built in this country. After fifty years of proven failure, neither Wall Street nor the utility industry wants to finance new atomic construction without your taxpayer dollars to guarantee their investments. You might think that after half a century, technology once sold on the promise of being "too cheap to meter" would be able to raise its own funding. But it can't. By contrast, no federal guarantees are needed for the billions of dollars being invested in building new wind farms all over the world. Now the reactor industry falsely claims that it can help solve the global warming problem, even though nukes cause major CO2 emissions in the mining, milling and enriching of nuclear fuel, in the reactor construction and decommissioning process, and in the long-term management of spent radioactive fuel, for which there is no real solution. No New Nukes! A single dollar spent on increased efficiency saves as much energy as ten dollars spent on nuclear power can produce. But under a phony "green" guise, the industry wants to exploit a single-sentence loophole in the Energy Bill passed by the U.S. Senate to cash in on virtually limitless federal loan guarantees. The sentence was slipped into the law without open debate. It is essential that we stop this gargantuan nuclear rip-off from happening. This is just the first major battle in what will be a long, hard fight to stop atomic energy from once again derailing the necessary transition to a global economy based on the efficient, equitable use of natural energies provided by our Mother Earth. Thanks and No Nukes! Bonnie, Jackson, Graham & Harvey

AN URGENT CALL TO STOP THE $50 BILLION NUKE POWER GIVE-AWAY

From Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and Harvey Wasserman:
Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE)

As early as this Friday, Congress may approve legislation allowing the Department of Energy to approve $50 billion and more in federal loan guarantees to build new nuclear power plants.

Take Action!

The nuclear industry itself has made it clear that this astonishing taxpayer give-away is the only way new atomic reactors will be built in this country. After fifty years of proven failure, neither Wall Street nor the utility industry wants to finance new atomic construction without your taxpayer dollars to guarantee their investments. You might think that after half a century, technology once sold on the promise of being "too cheap to meter" would be able to raise its own funding. But it can't.

By contrast, no federal guarantees are needed for the billions of dollars being invested in building new wind farms all over the world. Now the reactor industry falsely claims that it can help solve the global warming problem, even though nukes cause major CO2 emissions in the mining, milling and enriching of nuclear fuel, in the reactor construction and decommissioning process, and in the long-term management of spent radioactive fuel, for which there is no real solution.

No New Nukes!

A single dollar spent on increased efficiency saves as much energy as ten dollars spent on nuclear power can produce. But under a phony "green" guise, the industry wants to exploit a single-sentence loophole in the Energy Bill passed by the U.S. Senate to cash in on virtually limitless federal loan guarantees. The sentence was slipped into the law without open debate.

It is essential that we stop this gargantuan nuclear rip-off from happening. This is just the first major battle in what will be a long, hard fight to stop atomic energy from once again derailing the necessary transition to a global economy based on the efficient, equitable use of natural energies provided by our Mother Earth.

Thanks and No Nukes!
Bonnie, Jackson, Graham & Harvey

Lawsuit, injunction hearing moved to September

2007-08-07T13:18:00.001-04:00

By Gena Gibson, The Perth Courier August 1st 2007

The people who have camped out near Robertsville for more than a month say they won’t leave until Frontenac Ventures Corporation gives up its quest for uranium.

Lawyers for the Ardoch Algonquin and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations met in Kingston court on Monday with Neal Smitheman, the legal representative for the uranium exploration company. The company has served the groups, their leaders and "unknown persons" with a $77 million lawsuit, and would also like an injunction to allow it to begin exploration on thousands of acres of land near Robertsville, in North Frontenac Township.

"Our position and stance haven’t changed," said Paula Sherman, who shares co-chief duties of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nations with Randy Cota. "We’re staying, anyway."

She said the injunction hearing is set for late September, but the company, and the judge who heard arguments on Monday, want to get together tomorrow (Thursday) to find a compromise.

"Our stance on that is they won’t have access here," Sherman stressed, pointing out that officials with Frontenac Ventures Corporation are concerned with losing financial backing for the project. "We consider that to be a ploy."

Sherman said the people, both native and non-native, who have blocked access to the property plan to stay until the provincial government resolves the issue of land jurisdiction.

"The hearing now is not to determine whose land it is," she pointed out, saying the judge would like to know what Frontenac Ventures can do that won’t compromise the land.

"We don’t recognize anything (that can be done)," she added. "Anything they can do leading up to exploration and mining (is not acceptable)."

She said the native community believes the $77 million lawsuit is posturing on the part of Frontenac Ventures.

The main issue, for Sherman and her group, is their claim to more than three billion acres of land for the Ardoch Algonquins. The Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations, under Chief Doreen Davis, are in the midst of a land claim that has gone on for years.

"We don’t need to use that process," Sherman explained. "We already have jurisdiction over our land.

"It was never ceded."

Sherman, who teaches aboriginal studies at Trent University, said the hearing in September and early October will have no bearing on what is happening at the potential mining site.

"They can just do the injunction, because our minds are not changing," she said. "The issue needs to be dealt with once and for all."

Many of the protesters lined Hwy. 7 in Perth on Saturday afternoon, handing out pamphlets on uranium mining to drivers. While most people were receptive, Sherman said, "There are a few who obviously don’t care that they’re going to be vacationing or living in areas with uranium contamination."

Smitheson did not return a call to his office yesterday (Tuesday).

Annual Sacred Pipe Ceremony June 21 on Victoria Island

2007-06-19T20:23:00.000-04:00

WILLIAM COMMANDA, ALGONQUIN ELDER

KEEPER OF SACRED WAMPUM BELTS

INVITES YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ANNUAL SACRED PIPE CEREMONY ON VICTORIA ISLAND

10.00 am THURSDAY JUNE 21, 2007

HONOUR THE SUMMER SOLSTICE

COMMEMORATE VICTORIA ISLAND AS THE SPIRITUAL MEETING GROUNDS OF THE ANICINABE PEOPLES

CELEBRATE NATIONAL ABORIGINAL DAY

LIGHT THE SACRED FIRE FOR THE GATHERING OF NATIONS, HEALING AND PEACE BUILDING

Please forward this invitation to your families and friends and feel free to bring your picnic lunch and deck chairs and socialize with us after the Pipe Ceremony!

For more information, please call 613-599-8385 or 819-449-2668 or email circleofallnations@sympatico.ca

AN INVITATION TO A SPECIAL PUBLIC PRESENTION ON THE VISION FOR ASINABKA – THE SACRED CHAUDIÈRE SITE - WITHIN THE HEART OF THE CAPITAL CITY PDF)

URGENT! Please check the Healing Page under the title: Asinabka - The Sacred Chaudiere Site for information on Grandfather's vision for the National Capital Region and send your message of support to pm@pm.gc.ca

"A CIRCLE OF ALL NATIONS: A CULTURE OF PEACE"

2007-06-19T20:14:00.000-04:00

The Vision of Elder William Commanda to Create

"A CIRCLE OF ALL NATIONS: A CULTURE OF PEACE"

This difficult age we live in was foreseen by spiritual visionaries across the world. My ancestors warned us about the years of struggle that would lead us to a crossroad and to the choices we would be called upon to make at the turn of the century. This vision was inscribed in the sacred Seven Fires Prophecy Wampum Shell Belt in the late 1400s.

The Seven Fires Prophecy holds a vision for a future where we:

HONOUR OUR RELATIONSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY TO MOTHER EARTH AND ALL CREATION,

CELEBRATE OUR INDIVIDUAL GIFTS AND DIVERSITY, AND STILL

RECOGNIZE AND RESPECT OUR PLACE WITHIN A CIRCLE OF ALL NATIONS

The steps to this future are few:

FIRST WE LOOK WITHIN, SO WE KNOW OURSELVES BEST. WE RECOGNIZE, ACKNOWLEDGE AND FORGIVE OURSELVES OUR SHORTCOMINGS AND ANY FAILIURE TO ACHIEVE OUR BEST POTENTIAL

WE FORGIVE OTHERS FOR ANY HARDSHIP AND PAIN THEY MAY HAVE CAUSED US AND OUR COMMUNITIES; WE TRUST THAT THIS ENERGY WILL TRANSFORM THEM SPIRITUALLY

WE RECOGNIZE THAT OUR THOUGHTS, WORDS AND ACTIONS AFFECT OURSELVES, MOTHER EARTH AND ALL CREATION, AND WE EMBRACE PEACE MINDFULLY

WE LISTEN TO OUR MINDS BUT WE TRUST OUR HEARTS ABOVE ALL

This path will lead us to love, sharing, respect, responsibility, compassion, healing, justice and reconciliation.

It is of crucial importance that the people of the world:

RESPOND IMMEDIATELY TO THE PLIGHT OF THE MANY OPPRESSED BY EXPLOITATION, SOCIAL INJUSTICE, RACISM AND WAR;

ANIMATE THE HUMAN CAPACITY FOR FORGIVENESS, COMPASSION, LOVE AND RECONCILIATION; AND

CREATE A GLOBAL SYNERGY TO ENSURE THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE LIVES OF ALL

We shall then light the Eighth Fire together and we will become:

“A CIRCLE OF ALL NATIONS: A CULTURE OF PEACE"