Canada uranium update
Published by MAC on 2007-10-04
Canada uranium update
4th October 2007
The Algonquin First Nations continue taking action to stop uranium mining on their land near Sharbot Lake in Ontario.
Talks continue over aboriginal protest near planned uranium mine
THE CANADIAN PRESS
4th October 2007
KINGSTON, Ont. - The two sides at odds over a proposed uranium mine near Sharbot Lake, Ont., will meet again in Kingston on Friday.
Representatives from Frontenac Ventures Corp. and the aboriginal protesters were in court Thursday to discuss a court order issued in August that would have forced the protesters off the land until a trial can begin, but talks ran long.
The lawyers representing the mining company were asking that the protesters be found in contempt and face charges for not following the order.
Frontenac Ventures has already launched a $77-million lawsuit against the aboriginal groups, citing losses relating to the three-month blockade.
The talks come days after Justice Douglas Cunningham issued a permanent injunction against the protesters.
Lawyers for the aboriginal groups say they are prepared to contest the company's case.
Algonquins offer to end uranium site occupation
CBC News
2nd October 2007
Two First Nations communities have offered to end their three-month occupation of a potential uranium site in eastern Ontario if the province agrees to help resolve its dispute with a mining exploration company.
Chief Doreen Davis of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation and Paula Sherman, co-chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, sent a letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty on Tuesday asked for mediation involving themselves and provincial and federal government representatives.
They proposed that during mediation they will suspend occupation of the site near Sharbot Lake, Ont., where Frontenac Ventures Corp. wants to do test drilling for uranium, provided that the company does not gain access to the site, and no mineral exploration and mining takes place during the mediation process.
The Algonquins say the land is theirs, they should have been consulted about the mining and they oppose uranium mining for environmental reasons.
They have already met twice with provincial representatives.
Protesters from the two communities have been blocking access to the site, about 60 kilometres north of Kingston since late June.
That is despite a temporary court injunction issued in August and a permanent injunction issued last week granting the company access to the site, and ordering police to arrest and remove the protesters.
The injunctions were requested by Frontenac Ventures, which is also suing the Algonquins for $77 million.
In September, the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations launched a $10-million countersuit against the company and a $1-billion lawsuit against the province.
Legal hammers, human nails
Peggy Blair, Toronto Star
27th September 2007
At Caledonia, Six Nations Mohawks have occupied the site of a planned development for more than 18 months, claiming they never surrendered the lands in dispute. Parts of Caledonia are now blocked off and development in the contested area is frozen.
For the most part, Caledonia townspeople do not support the blockade. They are greatly inconvenienced and may not appreciate the Mohawk frustration at seeing reserved lands repeatedly developed over their objections or understand that the Mohawk claim has been outstanding for more than 100 years.
But as time drags on with no resolution, events have taken an ugly turn. Last week, a developer who tried to go behind the lines to check on his property was beaten viciously by native thugs. Iroquois traditionalists at the blockade say they don't condone the violence and had nothing to do with it, but have clearly been unable to control extremists on the line.
Just this week, Dave Brown and Dana Chatwell, a couple whose home is trapped between the blockade, sued the OPP and Ontario for more than $12 million in damages, claiming regular harassment by natives who pound on their windows and demand they present native-issued "passports" before entering their own land.
John Tory is now calling on the police to remove the protesters. He also wants changes to the Petty Trespass Act, making it illegal for any organization or third party to support or encourage a blockade.
But consider this. At Sharbot Lake, the Algonquins have blocked access to an area where Frontenac Ventures Company planned to build a uranium mine. Like the Mohawks, the Algonquins have refused to abide by a court injunction, instead demanding negotiations.
Another lawsuit for lost income is pending - Frontenac Ventures has sued the First Nations for $77 million. But the tone of the blockade at Sharbot Lake is very different from that at Caledonia - here, the Algonquins have widespread support.
Frontenac Ventures obtained mining permits under an archaic law that permits them to enter land without consent and stake claims to subsurface rights. The only thing standing between the mining company and landowners' diminished property values are the Algonquins, who instead of interfering with landowners' rights, are seen as their protector.
For that reason, as well as shared concerns over the environmental impacts of a mine, the blockade has attracted the support of local residents as well as Greenpeace and the Christian Peacemakers, who are monitoring the lines. If police action occurs, it will be directed against the landowners as well as the Algonquins.
There is an old saying that when one's only tool is a hammer, everything's a nail. John Tory's proposals may well cause the Mohawks at Caledonia to be arrested and hauled away, but will do little to resolve the underlying dispute.
Meanwhile, the changes could lead to charges against Greenpeace, the Christian Peacemakers and the grannies at Sharbot Lake. Instead of creating yet another legal hammer, Tory might be better served by asking why there are still long-standing land claims disputes in Ontario, why developers don't know about them ahead of time, what mechanisms can be introduced to expedite their resolution, and how the province might help avoid these disputes.
As Dave Brown said in an interview this weekend, he doesn't care who's at fault, he just wants the problems fixed. The same can be said for most Ontarians, including the natives on the lines.
Peggy Blair is an Ottawa lawyer specializing in aboriginal issues. She is a former member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
Algonquins canoe to Ottawa to demand uranium moratorium
CBC News
28th September 2007
A group of Algonquin protesters arrived in Ottawa by canoe and kayak Friday, then portaged to Parliament Hill to demand a moratorium on uranium mining.
Protesters from the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquin First Nations have been blocking access since June to a site near Sharbot Lake, Ont., where an Ontario mining company wants to test drill for uranium. A court injunction has ordered the protesters arrested, but as of Friday, no arrests had been made.
Paula Sherman, co-chief of the Ardoch First Nation, was among the Algonquins who made the journey to Ottawa this week by canoe to deliver a call for a moratorium on uranium mining to Conservative MP Scott Reid, who represents their riding of Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington.
"Ontario issued mining claims Š for Frontenac Venure on our lands, which are under comprehensive claim and weren't supposed to be being used at all. So we consider those claims invalid," said Sherman after the arrival of the canoes at Victoria Island following a six-day journey from Ardoch, about 113 kilometres southwest of Ottawa. "Uranium mining's not safe. Neither is exploration."
She said Frontenac Ventures has already built roads over sensitive wetlands and destroyed an aboriginal trapline, and the Algonquins fear the company will contaminate local waterways with its test drilling.
[photo] Paula Sherman, co-chief of the Ardoch First Nation, said the protesters fear test drilling for uranium will contaminate the local watershed. (CBC)
To underline that message, the Algonquins had carried in their canoes clean water collected from the headwaters of the Mississippi watershed. Those waters eventually flow north into the Ottawa River and south into Lake Ontario, Sherman said.
The protesters met with supporters, then marched with their canoes, aboriginal flags and drums up to Parliament Hill.