A Calamity Threatens Your Happiness November 24, 2007 Skunk has stink Bee has sting Ox has strength Cougar has speed Cobra has venom Human has mind.
Indigenous law teaches us, "Put minds together, you can solve any problem or dispute". Donna Dillman, grandmother and hunger striker against uranium mining in Ontario, has left the Robertsville mine site near Sharbot Lake, Ontario and gone to Toronto. Now, 48 days without solid food, Donna plans to carry her protest to Queens Park, seat of provincial government where she will spend her days until Ontario's Parliament closes for the Christmas holidays OR McGuinty calls for a moratorium. Donna was told she could not camp at Queens Park and would be charged with trespassing if she put up a tent. Donna, inner circle member of Canada's Green Party, was staying in a trailor outside the mine site gates since October 8 when she started her hunger strike. On November 14, Frontenac Ventures George White went screaming into court in Kingston again, demanding that the remaining protesters outside the gate move back 200metres from the gate. George who entertains a lifelong fantasy to mine uranium outside his cottage at Ompah, Ontario, was feeling quite intimidated by the ongoing presence of a handful of grey-haired settler women. He feared for his safety. Donna took her protest to Queens Park where she hopes to gain more attention. She urges everyone to contact McGuinty, MPP's etc to demand a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining in Ontario. The Algonquin Nation declared a moratorium on uranium mining in Algonquin Territory on September 28. Eleven municipalities in this region have passed resolutions in favour of a moratorium on uranium mining. Moratoriums are in place in Nova Scotia and British Columbia where another hunger strike was instrumental. Meanwhile, the Ardoch & Shabot Algonquins' victorious departure from the Clarendon encampment may be premature and hollow. Frontenac Ventures is pushing ahead with their "non-invasive" uranium explorations while mediation isn't going anywhere yet. Or at least, the Algonquins have said it hasn't started while Premier McGuinty has published a letter saying mediations are underway. Most residents, concerned or otherwise, Nishnaabe or not, haven't a clue as to what is going on. This includes many disaffected Algonquins who do not follow the present Ardoch leadership. Activist settlers also have no voice at the mediation table except for a Premier who clearly doesn't listen to them. One thing's for sure, it's a very serious situation. Frontenac Ventures' exploration agenda involves drilling in the 13th week which would be sometime in January if you calculate from mid October. The time of year may actually be ideal for drilling if the ground is frozen. Certainly cold weather will separate the serious protesters from the "fair weather" variety. Frontenac Ventures always have the option of flying in their drilling equipment which is entirely possible using a large helicopter. Even the exploration drilling can release harmful radioactivity into the air and the watershed. Algonquin people, working diligently to regain rights, sovereignty and culture are being called upon to fulfil monumental responsibilities. As perpetual keepers of Algonquin unceded territory, the land hereabouts, not only do Algonquin people have a responsibility to prevent the desecration of uranium development, we also have within our area a huge and growing quantity of nuclear waste. Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. runs the Chalk River Laboratories at Chalk River, Ontario. The nuclear waste there will be a huge problem for centuries to come. Where will AECL be in 2107 or 2207? The nuclear industry tends to make its mess and its $$$$ and then leave the cleanup to someone else, usually the Indigenous. Just ask the Navaho people at Tuba City, Arizona, the Ojibwe people at Serpent River (Elliott Lake), the Dene People of Great Bear Lake or the settlers at Port Hope, Ontario or Colonie, New York. It is a sobering thought to consider that Algonquin people will inherit the tons of radioactive and toxic waste at Chalk River. If you live within 200 km of Chalk River, you may be interested to know that a serious nuclear accident there would be of fatal concern to you. Not sure if you're within 200 km of Chalk River? We've looked at a map and drawn a circle to find out. Sharbot Lake and the Robertsville mine site are 150 km from Chalk River, about the same distance as Ottawa at 160 km. Since Chalk River is on the Ottawa River, any escaping radiation would surely get into the river whence it would eventually reach Ottawa and Montreal beyond. Actually there are concerns that underground plumes of radioactive fuel are escaping and moving all the time. If you fly with the crows, Montebello is about 200 km from Chalk River as are Rockland, Winchester and Prescott. Brockville is a little further and Kingston is about 210 km away. Belleville, Peterborough, Lindsay and Gravenhurst are about 200 km from Chalk River. This includes Ojibwe community, Curve Lake, Mohawk community, Wahta, the entire Muskoka region and the inner lakes that feed into Georgian Bay as well as all of Algonquin Park and the Algonquin reserve, Pikwakanagan at Golden Lake. It is almost 200 km to Parry Sound and includes all of Lake Nipissing to Sturgeon Falls. Across the river, our circle includes the Algonquin communities of the Barriere Lake Algonquins at Rapid Lake on the Cabonga Reservoir and the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Algonquins. Virtually all of Algonquin territory would be affected in a nuclear accident at Chalk River. Every living creature would die. AECL, a corporation made by the Corporation of Canada, is hugely funded by taxpayers money even though AECL engages in commercial profit-making ventures. Nuclear liability is the main cause of our constantly increasing hydro rates. Your Ontario hydro bill is poised to go up by 14% in January 2008. Nuclear is neither cheap nor clean. Just ask General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt. While GE is one of top five companies involved in the development and manufacture of nuclear reactors, Jeff is extolling other energy sources in a Financial Times article: "If you were a utility CEO and looked at your world today, you would just do gas and wind," Mr Immelt says. "You would say [they are] easier to site, digestible today [and] I don't have to bet my company on any of this stuff. You would never do nuclear. The economics are overwhelming." Sounds like Jeff is full of gas and wind himself. "Environmental thinking is no longer the purview of isolated, far- left thought. It is now a mainstream economic discussion," Immelt said at an MIT Energy Conference in March 2007 and quoted in a ZDNet article. It goes on to say, "GE's environmental technologies are perhaps the most high-profile example of a growing boom in alternative energies and so-called green technologies. Its Ecomagination initiative, launched in 2005 under Immelt's direction, aims to capitalize on environmental problems." Once again, it's all about money. Speaking of which, we'd like to know if GE's purchase of 49% of AECL has been completed as anticipated in July. Money, money, money. Where did these pathetically greedy and dangerous guys disconnect from the rest of humanity that they would be willing to risk so many peoples' lives for personal gain? They really need some lessons in how to Live. Here's a quote from John Mohawk on reason: "The Peacemaker laid forth a promise of a hopeful future, a future in which there would be no wars, a future in which human beings would gather together to use their minds to create peace. He raised the idea of rational thinking to the status of a political principle. He promoted clear thinking as the highest human potential, and he preached it in the spiritual language of his contemporaries. The Forces of Life, he was saying, have given the human being the potential to use the Mind to create a better life through peace, power and righteousness." Jennifer Tsun Your feedback is welcome. Please forward this message to a friend. If you have received this message as a forward and would like to receive further weekly reports, send email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> NOTES & SOURCES CCAMU Media Alert November 22, 2007 Hunger Striker heads to Toronto Who: Donna Dillman, on her 47th (as of Fri. Nov 23) day without food What: Arriving at Queen's Park to continue her protest against uranium exploration and mining. Where: At the corner of University and Orde (one block south of College, at Princess Margaret Hospital) on a march to Queen's Park When: Tues, Nov 27th, 2007 at: 11:00 am Why: To keep the pressure on Premier Dalton McGuinty to call a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining in eastern Ontario. <www.ccamu.ca> "US utilities are sceptical over nuclear energy revival" Financial Times <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2d0782c6-9640-11dc-b7ec- 0000779fd2ac.html> "GE chief: All engines go for alternative energy" Published on ZDNet News: Mar 12, 2007 "Nuclear selloff in works" Toronto Star <http://www.thestar.com/News/article/233052> John Mohawk in the Prologue to "The White Roots of Peace" by Paul Wallace
