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In February 2008, leaders of the Ardoch Algonquins
were sentenced for contempt due to their unwavering opposition to uranium
exploration on their traditional territory in eastern Ontario. Bob
Lovelace, a Queen’s University professor and an Ardoch spokesperson, was
sentenced to six months detention and fined $25,000 (with further costs
against him and other community members pending). Chief Paula
Sherman was fined $15,000. Leaders of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First
Nation also face contempt charges.
On March 17th, the Chief and five members of the
Council from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), 400 km north of Thunder
Bay in northern Ontario, were sentenced to six months in
jail for their peaceful opposition to drilling for platinum on their
traditional lands. Charges against former KI spokesperson John
Cutfeet will be heard on May 5. The Aboriginal leaders say it is
their responsibility to protect their lands from drilling.
Non-native property owners in southern Ontario have
also been charged with contempt. They are protecting their own
lands from mineral staking, as well as supporting the indigenous
struggle. On March 18th, the Superior Court in Kingston
dismissed charges against three of them, including Frank Morrison, but
the next day, six other “settlers” were charged with contempt just for
being in the vicinity of the mine site.
At least 11 other First Nations in northern Ontario
have called for a halt to staking and drilling on their traditional
territories. Twelve municipalities and two counties in southern
Ontario have supported requests for a moratorium on uranium exploration
and mining in the Ottawa River Watershed.
But Ontario’s Mining Act trumps local property
rights and aboriginal claims. Its invasive Free Entry system allows
mining companies to search for minerals, fell trees, blast, drill, build
roads and shelters - all without any public consultation or environmental
assessment.
Support for efforts to reform the Mining Act, and to
free the jailed aboriginal activists, is extremely important now. A
protest encampment in front of the Ontario Legislature, May 26-30, will
dramatize this just cause. As KI 6 and Ardoch F.N. lawyer Chris
Reid told a Toronto Socialist Action forum on April
25, “Don’t rely on lawyers and litigation. The mining companies win
every time. Build a mass movement for political action to change the
law and the powers that be.” We agree fully.
At the same time, it is necessary to raise the demand
for nationalization of the mining industry and of the entire natural resources
sector, under workers’ and community control. In most cases, this
will mean aboriginal community control. Public ownership is the
only way to introduce democracy and good local development into the
equation of ecology and resource management in the interest of humanity.
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