1) RALLY IN SUPPORT OF BOB LOVELACE: Napanee, this Sat., 11 a.m.
2) ARDOCH ALGONQUIN FIRST NATION PRESS RELEASE
3) AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
4) LANARK, FRONTENAC, LENNOX & ADDINGTON GREEN PARTY OF ONTARIO PRESS RELEASE
5) LETTER TO THE EDITOR
6) WHERE TO SEND DONATIONS - REMINDER
7) EVENT REMINDERS:
IAN TAMBLYN – TOMORROW: Feb 20th, National Archives, 7 p.m.
FATHEAD – This Friday, Feb 22nd, McDonald's Corners, 7:30 p.m.
8) EVENTS: WEIGHING THE RISKS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY- TOWARD A RENEWABLE ENERGY STRATEGY FOR ONTARIO: Peterborough, Mar 7th
9) EVENTS: SONG CIRCLE AND ART SALE: NAC, Ottawa, March 8th
10) LETTER TO LEGISLATORS FROM CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER TEAMS.
11) ALGONQUIN LEADER FINED, JAILED SIX MONTHS…Kingston Whig
12) LINK TO WALRUS ARTICLE
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1) RALLY IN SUPPORT OF BOB LOVELACE
What: Rally in Napanee
When: Saturday, February 23 from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Speakers at approx. Noon
Where: Quinte Regional Detention Centre
89 Richmond Street, Napanee
Why: To show support and gratitude to Bob and to show our determination to carry on with new vigour.
Directions: Hwy 401, exit at Hwy 41 (#579), turn left at the T, then left at next
stoplight, which is Richmond.
While we will have extra, people are encouraged to bring hand-made signs that show your concern (but are in good taste). People are encouraged to dress in colourful ways.
If you can’t be there in person, show your support by sending a note or a letter to help keep Bob’s spirits up and show him how much you appreciate his stand on our behalf.
Keep in mind the letters are monitored. Make sure you put a return address on the envelope or the letter will most likely go in the garbage. Address your letter to:
Robert Lovelace
C/O Quinte Detention Centre
81 Richmond Boulevard, Napanee, ON K7R 3S3
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2) ARDOCH ALGONQUIN FIRST NATION PRESS RELEASE:
February 19, 2008
Jailing Aboriginal Leaders to Promote Uranium Mining in Ontario
In a travesty of justice, AAFN Spokesperson Robert Lovelace was sentenced in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Kingston to 6 months incarceration and crippling fines amounting to $25,000 for upholding Algonquin law within our homeland. An additional sanction of $2,000 per day will be imposed for every day that Bob continues to obey our law rather than the court order. In addition, our community was fined $10,000 and Chief Paula Sherman $15,000, and our statement of defense was struck out, which means that we are forbidden from challenging the constitutional validity of Ontario's Mining Act. The court made it clear that First Nations' laws do not exist in Canada legal system and anyone who tries to follow First Nations law will be severely punished.
Shouts of "shame!" erupted in the courtroom as the sentences were read by the judge and Robert was taken into custody. Many were aghast at the harshness of the sentencing imposed for participation in a peaceful protest against uranium exploration which was approved by the province of Ontario without any consultation with our community.
Chief Paula Sherman said: "No consideration was given to the circumstances that led to our actions. The testimony given under oath by Robert Lovelace outlined Algonquin Law and the corresponding responsibilities of Algonquin people with respect to human activity in our territory. It was tossed aside by the judge and deemed to be of no relevance. The message delivered clearly through this court decision is one of domination and oppression; the law will enforce one set of values with respect to human relationships with the land in Ontario and there is no room for Algonquin laws or values."
Ontario and Canada portray themselves as shining examples of democracy and human rights for the world to emulate, all the while creating laws, policies, and value systems that oppress and deny Aboriginal peoples' human right to life as distinct people. Robert testified that Algonquin identity is tied to the relationships that we maintain with the land.
Lovelace is now in jail in Quinte Correctional facility in Napanee. Chief Sherman said: "He is a political prisoner of the Government of Ontario and Ardoch Algonquin First Nation places blame for his incarceration on Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Michael Bryant. We have repeatedly asked for consultations on the mineral claims on our lands within the larger Algonquin homeland. We have offered Ontario a variety of options to enable consultation. Every option was rejected out of hand. Ontario's position has been consistent: Drilling on our land must occur. Our position has equally been consistent: Meaningful consultation must occur before any of our land is damaged or alienated to mining companies."
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3) AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
February 18, 2008
Canada: Algonquin leader faces jail time while Ontario government ignores the law
Amnesty International expressed its concern today over the sentencing of Ardoch Algonquin First Nation negotiator Bob Lovelace to six months in jail and a fine of $25,000 for his role in a protest over uranium exploration on disputed land in eastern Ontario.
The Ontario government has licensed Frontenac Ventures to carry out exploratory drilling on land that is part of a 25-year-old Algonquin land claim. The Ardoch Algonquin and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations have said that they were not even notified about the plans before trees were cut and blasting began.
On June 29, 2007, members of the Ardoch Algonquin and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations moved to block Frontenac’s access to the site. The occupation ended after the province entered into talks about possible consultation processes, but these talks broke down earlier this month and the blockade was resumed.
On February 15, Lovelace and Ardoch co-chief Paula Sherman were convicted of contempt of court for failing to obey two injunctions against the occupation. While Sherman was able to reach an agreement to avoid jail time if she stays away from the protest, Lovelace has said he cannot make the same commitment.
A number of Algonquin supporters are also expected to be brought to trial in March accused of violating the same injunctions.
“The situation defies justice,” says Craig Benjamin, Amnesty International Canada’s Campaigner for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples. “Indigenous leaders and their supporters are facing stiff punishments for doing what they feel is necessary to protect rights that may one day be upheld in court or in the land claims process. Meanwhile the provincial government is ignoring its own legal obligations without any accountability.”
Canadian courts have clearly established that whenever the rights of Indigenous peoples may be affected, governments have a legal duty to ensure that there must always be meaningful consultation to identify and accommodate Indigenous concerns. Depending on the potential impacts, courts have found that this legal duty may include other more stringent measures “to avoid irreparable harm”, including in some cases agreeing to proceed only with the consent of the affected peoples.
Shortly before the blockade began last summer, a high level provincial inquiry into Indigenous land rights disputes in Ontario concluded that “the single biggest source of frustration, distrust, and ill- feeling among Aboriginal people in Ontario is our failure to deal in a just and expeditious way with breaches of treaty and other legal obligations to First Nations.” The Ipperwash Inquiry report went on to recommend that provincial laws, policies and practices must be reformed to ensure that they are consistent with the government’s legal obligations toward Indigenous peoples, including the duty of consultation, accommodation and consent.
The fact that provincial mining laws and policies are out of step with the constitutional duty of meaningful consultation is acknowledged in a January 2007 discussion paper issued by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. Despite this, the province continues to allow companies to stake claims and initiate exploration with little or no consideration of Indigenous interests.
In addition to the conflict over uranium mining in eastern Ontario, leaders from the Kitchenuhmaykoosib First Nation in northern Ontario are awaiting sentencing for contempt of court after continuing to oppose drilling activities in the face of an injunction. In the initial ruling in that case, the court sharply criticized the Ontario government for not having “heard or comprehended” repeated court affirmation of the duty of meaningful consultation and accommodation.
Amnesty International is calling on the province to work with Indigenous peoples to undertake immediate reform of provincial laws and policies that fail to respect and uphold the duty of meaningful consultation, accommodation and consent.
The province must also take urgent measures to address conflicts arising from its past failures to uphold that duty including by:
· committing to a negotiated resolution of the dispute;
· entering those negotiations in good faith without prejudging or limiting in advance the form and extent of accommodation required to respect and protect the rights of the Algonquin people; and
· taking measures in collaboration with the Algonquin people to ensure that their rights are not harmed while such negotiations are under way.
In the event of an appeal, Amnesty International urges the province to ensure the court is made fully aware of the underlying rights issues at stake, including the province's constitutional duty of consultation, accommodation and consent.
For more information:
Craig Benjamin
Campaigner for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Amnesty International Canada
312 Laurier Ave. East,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 1H9
1.613.744.7667 (ext. 235)
cbenjami@amnesty.ca
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4) LANARK, FRONTENAC, LENNOX & ADDINGTON GREEN PARTY OF ONTARIO PRESS RELEASE.
Aboriginal Leader's Sentence Unwarranted: Green Party
Kingston – February 19, 2008 – Recent Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox-Addington GPO candidate, Rolly Montpellier, today expressed extreme disappointment over the sentencing of Ardoch Algonquin First Nation negotiator Bob Lovelace and Chief Paula Sherman at the Frontenac County Court in Kingston on February 15, 2008.
Montpellier stated, "Ontario's citizens care about healthy communities. Our Algonquin neighbors have stepped up to the plate and one man in particular is suffering the consequences of taking a strong stand to ensure First Nation's rights are protected."
Mr. Lovelace was sentenced to six months in jail, and fined $25,000 for protesting exploratory drilling for uranium by Frontenac Ventures on land that is part of a 25-year-old Algonquin land claim. Chief Sherman was also sentenced to six months in jail and fined $15,000. In consideration of her children, Chief Sherman found it necessary to accept the restrictions of the court order to avoid going to jail.
The First Nations were not given prior notification of the exploration plans by either the province or Frontenac Ventures. They became aware of Frontenac Ventures' intentions after being notified by a private landowner that his property had been staked.
Canadian courts have clearly established that whenever the rights of First Nations may be affected, governments have a legal duty to ensure that there must always be meaningful consultation to identify and accommodate First Nations' concerns. When Justice Cunningham sentenced and fined Mr. Lovelace and Chief Sherman, he failed to understand the Ardoch Algonquin's Constitutional rights and Ontario and Canada's duty to consult with them regarding use of Crown land. His decision to impose incarceration and inflict heavy fines reflect the colonialist bias of the courts, and ignorance of the province's constitutional duty to consult.
The LFLA Green Party of Ontario CA calls on the province of Ontario to reform provincial laws and policies in order that they respect and uphold the duty of meaningful consultation, accommodation, and consent with respect to First Nation's people in Ontario. The province should also ensure that the court is made aware of its constitutional duty in this regard, particularly in the event of a court appeal.
"The Ontario judiciary has neglected its fiduciary responsibility to First Nations people." said Green Party of Ontario leader Frank de Jong. De Jong today called for the McGuinty government to commute Bob Lovelace's six month sentence. "It is imperative that Ontario courts recognize and consider that First Nations people base their actions on traditional Algonquin wisdom."
The province must also immediately re-initiate negotiations to resolve the dispute, commit to negotiate in good faith, and ensure that the rights of the Algonquin people are respected during these negotiations.
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5) LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The Editor, The Frontenac News
The recent sentencing of Native leaders because of their legitimate concern for the consequences (consequences which they would have to live with) which could derive from the adventures of Frontenac Ventures in North Frontenac, is just another example of the wild west mentality alive and well in Ontario's nineteenth century Mining Act. These people have been on this land for generations, going back long before Europeans arrived in Eastern Ontario. Their dispute is well documented. Frontenac Ventures is a junior mining company with a limited track record and a seemingly undue haste. If the demand for uranium is indeed legitimate, and that is a moot point, it will be there for the long term, and the economic return will remain firm. Why the need to be in such a hurry to punish the Native Community? Why the need to be so heavy handed?
Last July the Ministry of Mines and Northern Development proposed changes to the Mining Act and invited public input and consultation; and the public did respond. MNDM is, supposedly, in the process of reviewing this "public consultation" and bringing forth revisions to Ontario's Mining Act. One of the proposals proffered by MNDM was that of more consideration for Aboriginal rights. Was this whole "consultation process" just a hollow public relations gesture? Where are the proposed amendments to the Mining Act?
Regrettably, this whole thing smacks, not of long term, legitimate mining, but of mining promotion and speculation opportunity; intended to take hasty advantage of the current strong base metal price and fostered by long out-of-date mining legislation. Is it? MNDM appears unwilling to look after the larger public good, acting as it does as advocate for the mining community. Who looks after the big picture, taking in to consideration all the effects on the land surface and the people who live there, both now and in the future? Where were the Premier and the Cabinet while this sorry escapade was playing out?
Sad to say, but sometimes I am simply ashamed to be a citizen of Ontario.
D. Campbell, Ottawa
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6) WHERE TO SEND DONATIONS?
To make donations in Trust for Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN)
Make cheques out to:
Chris Reid in Trust for Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN) and mail to:
Christopher M. Reid
Barrister & Solicitor
154 Monarch Park Ave.
Toronto, ON M4J 4R6
To support the work that The Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) is doing in regard to raising public awareness and achieving a moratorium, make cheques out to:
Uranium Mining Moratorium Fund and mail to:
83 Cockburn St.,
Perth, ON
K7H 2B7
Thank you, please know that your financial support, energy and time are very much appreciated by everyone involved.
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7) EVENT REMINDERS: TOMORROW Wed., Feb. 20th at 7:30 pm:
IAN TAMBLYN IN CONCERT at The National Archives,
Admission is $25.00.
Tickets available in Ottawa through all CD Warehouse outlets and Legend Records (Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre Carling and Richmond Road) and at the Folklore Centre, 1111 Bank St.
_________________
FATHEAD Dance, McDonald's Corners Agricultural Hall,
this Fri. Feb 22, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
LLBO and refreshments.
Admission: $20.00.
Tickets available at Shadowfax in Perth, or call 1-800-518-2729
http://www.ccamu.ca/pics/fathead.gif
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8) EVENT: WEIGHING THE RISKS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY- TOWARD A RENEWABLE ENERGY STRATEGY FOR ONTARIO
Safe And Green Energy (SAGE) in Peterborough is sponsoring a significant event concerning nuclear energy and Ontario's proposed energy strategy.
An Evening with Dr. Michael D. Mehta,
Friday, March 7th at 7:00 pm
Peterborough Public Library, 345 Aylmer Street North
Admission: Free (donations accepted)
A Question and Answer session will follow Dr. Mehta's presentation. Coffee and tea will be served
Michael D. Mehta specializes in science, technology and society with a focus on health and environmental risk issues. Dr. Mehta is Professor of Sociology at the University of Alberta and Executive Director of the Population Research Laboratory. The Population
Research Laboratory at the University of Alberta is the largest social sciences research centre in Western Canada .
Brought to you by SAGE
For more information, email: goSAGE@yahoo.ca
Or visit www.goSAGE.net
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9) EVENT: SONG CIRCLE AND ART SALE, featuring: Jenny Whiteley, Jennifer Noxon, and Christine Graves - 5 Women and Some Art, plus special guest
Sat. March 8th, $25.00
National Arts Centre, 4th Stage - Tickets available in advance at NAC Box Office, Ticketmaster.ca and Compact Music 613 233 8922
International Women's Day Benefit - Proceeds to aid the anti-uranium fight in Eastern Ontario
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10) LETTER TO LEGISLATORS FROM CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER TEAMS.
Dear Legislators:
What happened to Bob Lovelace yesterday and the people he represents, an Algonquin First Nation in Eastern Ontario, reflects very badly in my view on both the governments of Ontario and Canada as well as the Frontenac Ventures Uranium exploration company involved. As stated in the release, Ontario, according to the Canadian Supreme Court, should have required Frontenac Ventures to consult with Algonquin First Nations, who have a land claim with the Federal Government, before venturing onto the disputed land. They did not do this and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources did not require consultations and even gave a licence to Frontenac Ventures to stake land, cut down trees, build a road and start drilling for uranium - on land claimed by the Algonquins.
Despite the above unjust and illegal actions - illegal according to the Supreme Court - Frontenac Ventures has been able to bring an injunction against anyone who would walk on the land Frontenac have staked for exploration, including First Nations and 'Settler neighbour' allies, with the result that contempt of court charges have been brought against many. Bob Lovelace is the first person sentenced - and harshly. This injunction with its harsh penalties is designed to shut down all democratic dissent from the majority of citizens in the area who do not want uranium exploration or mining to go on in their neighbourhood.
There were several weeks of 'mediation' among Algonquin, government of Ontario, and company representatives, during which time the Injunction was not enforced. However, those mediation talks were a fraud. At no time was the Ontario representative prepared to acknowledge that there was a possibility that a decision could be made to not allow uranium exploration.
Another problem is Ontario's archaic Mining Act, which allows for mineral exploration to happen on any Ontarian's property without permission if they do not own their mineral rights, and few landowners do. Ontario needs to revisit its Mining Act and change it so that landowners, be they First Nations or non-native, are consulted prior to exploration, with the option of saying no. A majority of people as well as all of the town councils in the area have also called for a moratorium on uranium mining until the Mining Act is revised and all issues are dealt with.
The government of Canada is at fault for not dealing in a timely manner with Aboriginal land claims, including the Algonquins, who have never ceded their land to Canada in any treaty. Canada should already have protected land that the Algonquins claimed from any use that goes against the Royal Proclamation of 1763, entrenched in Canada's constitution, which guarantees the 'reservation of hunting grounds' for the Aboriginal peoples of North America. This is all the Algonquins want and they realize that uranium
mining with its destruction of nature is inconsistent with their hunting rights which have never been extinguished by Canadian law.
In this case that I have been observing for some time, it seems that a business, such as a mining exploration company, which actually represents very few people, but perhaps if they are lucky, a lot of money for a few investors, takes precedence over a large group of people who do not want that which a uranium mining company is liable to bring - the destruction of 'Creation' where they live - which Bob Lovelace says he is trying to prevent. It seems that the situation is upside down. It should be the people, native and non-native, who rule and the representatives of the people should be supporting them, not allowing the bringing of injunctions with harsh penalties, against them.
Please defend the rights of the people and end this persecution of the Algonquins of Eastern Ontario.
I would like a reply to what I am asking.
Murray D. Lumley
1854A Danforth Avenue
Toronto, ON
M4C 1J4
Tel. 416-423-5406
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11) ALGONQUIN LEADER FINED, JAILED SIX MONTHS; SECOND URANIUM MINING PROTESTER ALSO FINED BUT RELEASED ON 'COMPASSIONATE GROUNDS': Kingston Whig Standard
Sue Yanagisawa, Whig-Standard Court Reporter
The lawyer for a uranium prospecting company, frustrated by an Algonquin-led protest that disrupted the company's plans for test drilling north of Sharbot Lake last summer, said it gave him "no pleasure to ask for incarceration."
Yet Neal J. Smitheman asked for exactly that this week, the maximum jail sentence possible in fact, and substantial fines against Algonquin leaders who refused to 'purge' contempt charges by formally promising not to interfere in the future with his client, Oakville-based Frontenac Ventures Corp.
Yesterday morning, Superior Court Justice Douglas Cunningham gave Smitheman what he had asked for. After observing that "they have not only engaged in a full-scale occupation of the Clarendon site, they have counselled others to do so as well," and telling those present in the courtroom that "compliance with the orders of this court are not optional," Cunningham ordered Ardoch Algonquin First Nation co-chief Paula Sherman and community spokesman Robert Lovelace jailed for six months.
Cunningham said the sentences could be discharged at any point if the two leaders agreed to purge their contempt. Until then, however, he directed the OPP to take them into custody.
About an hour later, Sherman returned to the courtroom with lawyer Christopher Reid, who represents the Ardoch Algonquins, and Smitheman told the judge that he and Reid had reached "an accommodation" on her behalf that was "motivated on compassionate grounds."
Reid was blunter. "Ms. Sherman is sole support for three children and she will lose them if she goes to jail," he told judge.
Consequently, she had agreed to enter into an undertaking promising to comply in future with the "letter and spirit" of Cunningham's Sept. 27 injunction. The injunction requires that Frontenac Ventures have "unfettered and unobstructed access" to its mineral exploration claim - about 30,000 acres of Crown and private land in North Frontenac.
It specifically bars the Algonquin communities living in the area and "persons unknown" from "interfering with, disrupting or hindering" Frontenac Ventures, its employees, agents or contractors. Having agreed on the record to future compliance with the injunction, a process known as purging contempt, Cunningham discharged the custodial portion of his order against Sherman and she was not sent to jail.
At the precise moment she was being dealt with in the second-floor courtroom, however, Lovelace was being placed in the Quinte Detention Centre transport van at the rear of the Frontenac County Court House. Chanting and ululating from a group of supporters, who had gone outside, could be heard faintly through the windows on the north wall of the court.
The sounds of outrage had been much louder, ringing in fact, an hour earlier when Cunningham's initial pronouncement of sentence was greeted by loud jeers of "Shame! Shame!" from the packed spectators' gallery. At its peak, a dark-haired woman from among the non-native supporters of the Algonquin leaned across the bar of the court, behind lawyers representing the attorney general, and berated the judge.
"This court is participating in the biggest public health disaster this country has ever seen. Do you understand that?" she yelled up at the judge.
Cunningham paused briefly, but didn't have her removed. Instead, he continued with sentencing, ordering that Lovelace pay a fine of $25,000, Sherman a fine of $15,000 and the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation $10,000 for past conduct. He set additional fines of $2,000 a day for every day they're not in compliance in the future and ended by ordering the Ardoch Algonquin statement of defence struck.
They are precluded from bringing any application or motion before him until their contempt is purged. Reid, putting it in ordinary language after the proceedings ended, said "they are booted out of the court." What that means in the short term, he said, is that his clients won't be allowed to mount their core defence in March when they return for a second round in these proceedings. "The statement of defence," he explained, "challenges the constitutional validity of the Mining Act."
The perversity of the situation, he added, is that his clients are being punished for resorting to direct action instead of relying on the courts. But "they can't come to court now. Self-help is all that's left to them now." At this point, Reid said he's talking to his clients about an appeal.
Cunningham, in explaining his reasoning for the sentence, said that the adoption of self-help flaunts the rule of law and can't be tolerated because "respect for our court system evaporates and our entire society suffers as a result." His sentence, he added, had to send a message to others who might consider similar action.
Respect for the court system wasn't exactly inspired in the largely partisan crowd of spectators who watched as the two prisoners were taken into custody, however. After Cunningham rose, those who weren't attached to Frontenac Ventures or the provincial Ministry of Northern Development and Mines stood en masse and applauded Sherman and Lovelace, some ululating, an expression in sound that can denote sorrow, celebration, honour, defiance or all of them at once.
Gloria Morrison - the wife of Frank Morrison, one of only two non-natives charged in the contempt proceedings - was seething in a quiet and dignified way. Her husband has attended the court case only intermittently when he's been obliged to but she's been a fixture since hearings began last summer.
The Morrisons own 100 acres of managed forest and marshland north of Snow Road, property crossed by the Big Antoine and Little Antoine creeks and a man-made stream, which all flow directly into the Mississippi River. They're opposed to uranium drilling and believe it endangers both the surface and sub-surface waters in the area.
They were devastated when they discovered that Frontenac Ventures had come onto their land without permission sometime in 2006, staked a prospecting claim that covers about 70 per cent of their holding, and that there was nothing they could do about it. According to Frank Morrison, the claim staking alone has destroyed the market value of the property.
It was Gloria Morrison who first alerted the Ardoch Algonquins to the sort of prospecting Frontenac Ventures was doing and asked them to get involved. She's unhappy that her husband's case - like that of Christian Peacemaker David Milne - was severed from the main action against the Ardoch Algonquin earlier this week.
His Ottawa lawyers weren't provided in advance with essential documents by the Frontenac Ventures legal team, however. Consequently, his case had to be put over to March to allow for proper disclosure.
Gloria Morrison said she's been disillusioned by what she's seen since her involvement in this whole thing began. At 57, she didn't have any experience with the courts before this, she explained. She had never even experimented with teenage rebellion or hippie culture: "I walked on green lights and picked up garbage off the street. I never smoked and don't drink."
She admits she had certain expectations about how things were supposed to work for law-abiding citizens. But after witnessing this case unfold, "it has not solved anything," she said. "It's painful and it has created a situation where many of us will follow." Unlike Sherman, all of her children are grown and should it come to that, "I am fully able and willing to go to jail," Morrison said, "and no, I would not apologize either for protecting our air and water."
Reid was clearly upset by the outcome of the sentencing. "I was expecting there would be a period of incarceration. I don't think anybody expected six months," and described it as "pretty draconian," he said outside the courtroom.
He was also unhappy with Sherman's predicament and the pressure such a lengthy sentence had imposed on her. "If her kids were now adults, she'd be in jail right now," he said, "but she can't deprive them of a mother."
As for the fines "you might as well make it $10 million, as far as the ability to pay goes for these people." Bluntly put, Reid said, "Bob Lovelace is a political prisoner. He's done nothing violent. He hasn't hurt anybody. He's in jail because of his beliefs."
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12) LINK TO CURRENT WALRUS MAGAZINE ARTICLE:
http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2008.03-environment-radiation-pollution/
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Algonquin jailed six months and fined 25 000
This is from Mike, Donna Dillmann's partner. I hope every single one of you will make their outrage heard - this is our future and the future of our children Ontario politicians are in the process of fucking up meanwhile the Ontario's judicial system just gave the indigenous people involed in the protest a big hearty kick in the butt - thanx McGuinty, but you won't get away with that one.
Make sure to come to Napanee on Feb 23rd and express your solidarity with the heroic Algonquin leaders who won't back down for OUR WATER, AIR and SOIL.
Hi
Thank you for your interest and, more specifically, for being in touch with Mike and/or I in regard to efforts to raise public awareness on the uranium issue. Raise public awareness we did and, in addition, while we did not (yet) convince Premier McGuinty to place a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining, the plan to hold a Citizens' Inquiry into the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle is moving ahead. See below for the recent press release or visit www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com
Many of you have asked what you could do to further the goal. We are writing now, not only to update you on the Citizens' Inquiry, but to invite you to participate in one (or more) of several ways. Below you will find several initiatives that would help, the first (unnumbered) is something you can do in the moment, the rest over the next few weeks. We expect you are all busy people as we are and it is easy to be overwhelmed by the task at hand, but together we can make the change our society so desperately needs.
If you have a few minutes today: call or e-mail the CBC noon show, Ontario Today. http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/contact.html#
On Friday, the show covered the Kingston Court decision where Queen's U. Professor and Elder of the Ardoch First Nation, Bob Lovelace, was sentenced to six months incarceration and a $25,000.00 fine for his efforts in protecting the people of the region, the eco-system and the unborn. (See # 6 below, as well as the first press release after signatures.)
Ontario Today has requested feedback/reactions to the sentencing. They will be reacting to responses on Monday's show unless Family Day bumps it 'til Tuesday.
As well:
1) Where ever you live, please send a written or email submission expressing your thoughts and feelings about uranium its uses, etc. to "The Citizens' Inquiry on the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle" - info@uraniumcitizensinquiry.com (see second press release below)
2) If you live in the area or are visiting, you can participate in the Inquiry's Public Hearings by making a presentation (10 min. max.) at one of the four venues in eastern Ontario in April: (Sharbot Lake, Apr 1st; Kingston, Apr 8th; Peterborough, Apr. 15th, and Ottawa, likely Apr 22nd (venue yet to be nailed down in Ottawa): www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com
3) For those living outside of eastern ON, consider organizing a Citizens'
Inquiry in your area, or a Public Hearing in your town/city. The
presentations/submissions received could be forwarded to us, for inclusion
in the Inquiry Report and on our website: www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com
Were this Inquiry to go Canada-wide, the attention to the issue would be
worth the effort.
4) Forward this email to your lists, and invite them to participate/submit and help with the following:
5) Speakers Needed: Advise us of people who might be willing to speak on the
issue at campuses across Canada - we'll link them to people organizing the talks - alternately, forward this email to people you know and ask them to be in touch at the above link/addie. This is a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness among the generation who will be most affected by today's decisions.
6) Queen's University Instructor and Elder Robert Lovelace was taken away from Kingston Court in handcuffs on Friday and will spend the next 6 months in jail, as well as being fined $25,000 for his actions to date - and he has not backed down. Similar fines were levied against Trent University Professor and Ardoch Chief, Paula Sherman, who purged her contempt charges in order to remain home with her children after also being sentenced to six months in jail. Individuals from each of the First Nations were forced to accept an agreement that essentially means they will not be continuing to help stop the drills. Already in contempt and faced with daily fines of up to $5,000, the decision was difficult. Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation members will be sentenced in March, along with three 'settlers' - non-natives - also charged with contempt.
When writing your Letters to Editors, to McGuinty and others, please let them know what an injustice it is that those trying to protect our land, water, air and unborn have to risk losing their homes in the process.
There will be an action outside of the detention centre where Bob Lovelace is being held in Napanee, ON, on Sat. Feb 23rd. Please contact us for more info on this initiative, if you are able to join us.
7) If you live in Ottawa or could pass this to your contacts who do, you can help with a current initiative in regard to your City Council. The resolution for a moratorium on uranium has passed unanimously at the committee level and will be brought forward on the agenda of the Committee of the Whole on Feb 27th. Please contact your Ward Councilor http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/mayor_council/councillors/index_en.html
and share your thoughts/feelings with him/her.
To date every municipality from Kingston through to Carleton Place has passed this or a similar resolution. So far, they have been ignored by the province. We think it will be interesting to see what the Premier does when constituents in the city that he represents (Ottawa South) support a moratorium.
8) Mike and I plan on taking the "Living on Earth as if we want to stay tour" (with a new addition - moi speaking on the uranium issue) across Canada and down into the western and north central States. If you are interested, please be in touch. The rough timing is: spring - eastern and southern Ontario; mid June to mid July - Ontario and points west to BC, returning through the US; and September - Ontario and points east to NS. We are looking for sponsors to help with the venues, media, etc. It would be great to see some of you again and to put faces to the names of those that I/we have yet to meet.
Thanks for your love, concern, thoughts, prayers, and letters, as well as your time and energy. With the inertia that currently exists in the system, it will take a monumental push to change direction, but I continue to believe that it is doable. I have to.
blessings and apologies for the length of this email :)
Please see the two press releases that follow:
_______________________________________________________________________
BOB LOVELACE TO SERVE SIX MONTHS IN JAIL:
Press release: Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada
Where Is The Justice?
Kingston, Ontario
February 15, 2008
Kingston Regional Police took Bob Lovelace away from the courthouse in handcuffs this morning to serve a six month sentence on a contempt of court charge handed down by Justice Douglas Cunningham. Lovelace, age fifty-nine, is an ex-chief and spokesperson for the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN). He is also father to seven children and an instructor at Queen's University and Sir Sandford Fleming Community College. Justice Cunningham imposed a fine of $25,000 on Lovelace and $10,000 on his community.
Lovelace said "I am in a dilemma. I want to obey Canadian law but Algonquin law instructs me that I must preserve Creation. I must follow Algonquin law." Judge Cunningham in his sentencing said, "There can only be one law - the law of Canada as expressed in this court."
Co-chief Paula Sherman and Honorary Chief Harold Perry agreed to abide by the terms of an injunction which forbids them from blocking Frontenac Ventures Ltd from drilling test holes on the site or encouraging others to do so. In this way they avoided Bob Lovelace's fate. "I want to be with Bob" said Harold "but my community does not want me to do this". Perry is age seventy-eight and has heart problems while Paula Sherman is a single parent.
Earlier in the hearing Chief Doreen Davis and Earl Badour of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation agreed to abide by the terms of the injunction of September 27, 2007. They must reappear in court on March 18, 2008.
Chris Reid, lawyer for AAFN, noted that there were other options available to the involved parties which would have prevented this outcome. The Province of Ontario could have removed the claimed land from the lands available to be staked and explored. Further, he observed "The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that all provinces have a duty to consult with First Nations who have even a weak claim on land before they permit any development. Ontario has not consulted with any Algonquin band about this claim".
Christian Peacemaker Teams laments the unjust actions of Justice Cunningham and the government of Ontario. We fear that the actions of the court and the government are leading this province down the road of confrontation that will inevitably lead to more suffering, injustice and bloodshed for Aboriginal Peoples. We beg Premier McGuinty to intervene and change course, to choose instead to work towards a just relationship with Aboriginal Peoples.
- 30 -
Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada
quipes Chrtiennes d'Action pour la Paix Canada
25 Cecil St Unit 307
Toronto ON M5T 1N1
Tel: 416-423-5525; Fax: 416-423-7140
canada@cpt.org
www.cpt.org
_______________________
PRESS RELEASE No. 2
Eastern Ontario Citizens' Group Announces Citizens' Inquiry on the Impacts
of the Uranium Cycle
The Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) is pleased to
announce the Citizens' Inquiry on the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle. Public
Hearings will take place 1-5 p.m., 6-9 p.m. daily, during April:
Sharbot Lake: Beginning April 1st. at the Anglican Church
Kingston: Beginning April 8th at the Queen St. United Church
Peterborough: Beginning April 15th at Sadlier House
Ottawa: 4th week in April (venue yet to be selected)
"It became clear that the government of Ontario was not going to put a moratorium in place before they recessed for the holidays and wasn't listening to concerns around the exploration for uranium that is taking place in eastern Ontario. A team is in place and plans for the inquiry are well underway," stated Donna Dillman, the 53 year-old grandmother who resumed eating on December 13, after 68 days without food, when several organizations, including Greenpeace, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, David Suzuki Foundation, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Voice of Women, Mining Watch Canada, Student Against Climate Change and Sierra Club of Canada stepped forward to support a citizens' inquiry.
Anyone can attend the public hearings to observe or make a presentation. As well, written or electronic submissions can be provided to the Inquiry Panel. CCAMU anticipates a broad range of topics relating to the issues and facts, including public and environmental health and safety, economics, and political responsibility.
The inquiry will be accessible to citizens and experts alike. Presentations at the inquiry venues can be in a variety of forms and will be limited to 10 minutes each. "Because people express their ideas in different ways, we're inviting people to communicate through narratives, poems, skits, and songs as well as with written submissions," said Dillman.
Registration to make a presentation is required. Deadline: Two weeks prior to event:
online registration:
Phone: 613-259-9988,
fax: call first 613-259-9988,
mail: 2799 McDonald's Corners Rd, R.R.#3 Lanark, K0G 1K0
or email: info@uraniumcitizensinquiry.com
Registrations will be acknowledged prior to the scheduled date of the location requested and will confirm your participation during the afternoon or evening session.
Written and electronic submissions may be made to the addresses as noted above.
These submissions must be received by May 1, 2008
Make sure to come to Napanee on Feb 23rd and express your solidarity with the heroic Algonquin leaders who won't back down for OUR WATER, AIR and SOIL.
Hi
Thank you for your interest and, more specifically, for being in touch with Mike and/or I in regard to efforts to raise public awareness on the uranium issue. Raise public awareness we did and, in addition, while we did not (yet) convince Premier McGuinty to place a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining, the plan to hold a Citizens' Inquiry into the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle is moving ahead. See below for the recent press release or visit www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com
Many of you have asked what you could do to further the goal. We are writing now, not only to update you on the Citizens' Inquiry, but to invite you to participate in one (or more) of several ways. Below you will find several initiatives that would help, the first (unnumbered) is something you can do in the moment, the rest over the next few weeks. We expect you are all busy people as we are and it is easy to be overwhelmed by the task at hand, but together we can make the change our society so desperately needs.
If you have a few minutes today: call or e-mail the CBC noon show, Ontario Today. http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/contact.html#
On Friday, the show covered the Kingston Court decision where Queen's U. Professor and Elder of the Ardoch First Nation, Bob Lovelace, was sentenced to six months incarceration and a $25,000.00 fine for his efforts in protecting the people of the region, the eco-system and the unborn. (See # 6 below, as well as the first press release after signatures.)
Ontario Today has requested feedback/reactions to the sentencing. They will be reacting to responses on Monday's show unless Family Day bumps it 'til Tuesday.
As well:
1) Where ever you live, please send a written or email submission expressing your thoughts and feelings about uranium its uses, etc. to "The Citizens' Inquiry on the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle" - info@uraniumcitizensinquiry.com (see second press release below)
2) If you live in the area or are visiting, you can participate in the Inquiry's Public Hearings by making a presentation (10 min. max.) at one of the four venues in eastern Ontario in April: (Sharbot Lake, Apr 1st; Kingston, Apr 8th; Peterborough, Apr. 15th, and Ottawa, likely Apr 22nd (venue yet to be nailed down in Ottawa): www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com
3) For those living outside of eastern ON, consider organizing a Citizens'
Inquiry in your area, or a Public Hearing in your town/city. The
presentations/submissions received could be forwarded to us, for inclusion
in the Inquiry Report and on our website: www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com
Were this Inquiry to go Canada-wide, the attention to the issue would be
worth the effort.
4) Forward this email to your lists, and invite them to participate/submit and help with the following:
5) Speakers Needed: Advise us of people who might be willing to speak on the
issue at campuses across Canada - we'll link them to people organizing the talks - alternately, forward this email to people you know and ask them to be in touch at the above link/addie. This is a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness among the generation who will be most affected by today's decisions.
6) Queen's University Instructor and Elder Robert Lovelace was taken away from Kingston Court in handcuffs on Friday and will spend the next 6 months in jail, as well as being fined $25,000 for his actions to date - and he has not backed down. Similar fines were levied against Trent University Professor and Ardoch Chief, Paula Sherman, who purged her contempt charges in order to remain home with her children after also being sentenced to six months in jail. Individuals from each of the First Nations were forced to accept an agreement that essentially means they will not be continuing to help stop the drills. Already in contempt and faced with daily fines of up to $5,000, the decision was difficult. Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation members will be sentenced in March, along with three 'settlers' - non-natives - also charged with contempt.
When writing your Letters to Editors, to McGuinty and others, please let them know what an injustice it is that those trying to protect our land, water, air and unborn have to risk losing their homes in the process.
There will be an action outside of the detention centre where Bob Lovelace is being held in Napanee, ON, on Sat. Feb 23rd. Please contact us for more info on this initiative, if you are able to join us.
7) If you live in Ottawa or could pass this to your contacts who do, you can help with a current initiative in regard to your City Council. The resolution for a moratorium on uranium has passed unanimously at the committee level and will be brought forward on the agenda of the Committee of the Whole on Feb 27th. Please contact your Ward Councilor http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/mayor_council/councillors/index_en.html
and share your thoughts/feelings with him/her.
To date every municipality from Kingston through to Carleton Place has passed this or a similar resolution. So far, they have been ignored by the province. We think it will be interesting to see what the Premier does when constituents in the city that he represents (Ottawa South) support a moratorium.
8) Mike and I plan on taking the "Living on Earth as if we want to stay tour" (with a new addition - moi speaking on the uranium issue) across Canada and down into the western and north central States. If you are interested, please be in touch. The rough timing is: spring - eastern and southern Ontario; mid June to mid July - Ontario and points west to BC, returning through the US; and September - Ontario and points east to NS. We are looking for sponsors to help with the venues, media, etc. It would be great to see some of you again and to put faces to the names of those that I/we have yet to meet.
Thanks for your love, concern, thoughts, prayers, and letters, as well as your time and energy. With the inertia that currently exists in the system, it will take a monumental push to change direction, but I continue to believe that it is doable. I have to.
blessings and apologies for the length of this email :)
Please see the two press releases that follow:
_______________________________________________________________________
BOB LOVELACE TO SERVE SIX MONTHS IN JAIL:
Press release: Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada
Where Is The Justice?
Kingston, Ontario
February 15, 2008
Kingston Regional Police took Bob Lovelace away from the courthouse in handcuffs this morning to serve a six month sentence on a contempt of court charge handed down by Justice Douglas Cunningham. Lovelace, age fifty-nine, is an ex-chief and spokesperson for the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN). He is also father to seven children and an instructor at Queen's University and Sir Sandford Fleming Community College. Justice Cunningham imposed a fine of $25,000 on Lovelace and $10,000 on his community.
Lovelace said "I am in a dilemma. I want to obey Canadian law but Algonquin law instructs me that I must preserve Creation. I must follow Algonquin law." Judge Cunningham in his sentencing said, "There can only be one law - the law of Canada as expressed in this court."
Co-chief Paula Sherman and Honorary Chief Harold Perry agreed to abide by the terms of an injunction which forbids them from blocking Frontenac Ventures Ltd from drilling test holes on the site or encouraging others to do so. In this way they avoided Bob Lovelace's fate. "I want to be with Bob" said Harold "but my community does not want me to do this". Perry is age seventy-eight and has heart problems while Paula Sherman is a single parent.
Earlier in the hearing Chief Doreen Davis and Earl Badour of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation agreed to abide by the terms of the injunction of September 27, 2007. They must reappear in court on March 18, 2008.
Chris Reid, lawyer for AAFN, noted that there were other options available to the involved parties which would have prevented this outcome. The Province of Ontario could have removed the claimed land from the lands available to be staked and explored. Further, he observed "The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that all provinces have a duty to consult with First Nations who have even a weak claim on land before they permit any development. Ontario has not consulted with any Algonquin band about this claim".
Christian Peacemaker Teams laments the unjust actions of Justice Cunningham and the government of Ontario. We fear that the actions of the court and the government are leading this province down the road of confrontation that will inevitably lead to more suffering, injustice and bloodshed for Aboriginal Peoples. We beg Premier McGuinty to intervene and change course, to choose instead to work towards a just relationship with Aboriginal Peoples.
- 30 -
Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada
quipes Chrtiennes d'Action pour la Paix Canada
25 Cecil St Unit 307
Toronto ON M5T 1N1
Tel: 416-423-5525; Fax: 416-423-7140
canada@cpt.org
www.cpt.org
_______________________
PRESS RELEASE No. 2
Eastern Ontario Citizens' Group Announces Citizens' Inquiry on the Impacts
of the Uranium Cycle
The Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) is pleased to
announce the Citizens' Inquiry on the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle. Public
Hearings will take place 1-5 p.m., 6-9 p.m. daily, during April:
Sharbot Lake: Beginning April 1st. at the Anglican Church
Kingston: Beginning April 8th at the Queen St. United Church
Peterborough: Beginning April 15th at Sadlier House
Ottawa: 4th week in April (venue yet to be selected)
"It became clear that the government of Ontario was not going to put a moratorium in place before they recessed for the holidays and wasn't listening to concerns around the exploration for uranium that is taking place in eastern Ontario. A team is in place and plans for the inquiry are well underway," stated Donna Dillman, the 53 year-old grandmother who resumed eating on December 13, after 68 days without food, when several organizations, including Greenpeace, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, David Suzuki Foundation, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Voice of Women, Mining Watch Canada, Student Against Climate Change and Sierra Club of Canada stepped forward to support a citizens' inquiry.
Anyone can attend the public hearings to observe or make a presentation. As well, written or electronic submissions can be provided to the Inquiry Panel. CCAMU anticipates a broad range of topics relating to the issues and facts, including public and environmental health and safety, economics, and political responsibility.
The inquiry will be accessible to citizens and experts alike. Presentations at the inquiry venues can be in a variety of forms and will be limited to 10 minutes each. "Because people express their ideas in different ways, we're inviting people to communicate through narratives, poems, skits, and songs as well as with written submissions," said Dillman.
Registration to make a presentation is required. Deadline: Two weeks prior to event:
online registration:
Phone: 613-259-9988,
fax: call first 613-259-9988,
mail: 2799 McDonald's Corners Rd, R.R.#3 Lanark, K0G 1K0
or email: info@uraniumcitizensinquiry.com
Registrations will be acknowledged prior to the scheduled date of the location requested and will confirm your participation during the afternoon or evening session.
Written and electronic submissions may be made to the addresses as noted above.
These submissions must be received by May 1, 2008
Algonquin leader fined, jailed six months
Second uranium mining protester also fined but released on 'compassionate grounds'
Posted By Sue Yanagisawa Whig-Standard Court Reporter, posted 2 days ago
The lawyer for a uranium prospecting company, frustrated by an Algonquin-led protest that disrupted the company's plans for test drilling north of Sharbot Lake last summer, said it gave him "no pleasure to ask for incarceration."
Yet Neal J. Smitheman asked for exactly that this week, the maximum jail sentence possible in fact, and substantial fines against Algonquin leaders who refused to 'purge' contempt charges by formally promising not to interfere in the future with his client, Oakville-based Frontenac Ventures Corp.
Yesterday morning, Superior Court Justice Douglas Cunningham gave Smitheman what he had asked for.
After observing that "they have not only engaged in a full-scale occupation of the Clarendon site, they have counselled others to do so as well," and telling those present in the courtroom that "compliance with the orders of this court are not optional," Cunningham ordered Ardoch Algonquin First Nation co-chief Paula Sherman and community spokesman Robert Lovelace jailed for six months.
Cunningham said the sentences could be discharged at any point if the two leaders agreed to purge their contempt. Until then, however, he directed the OPP to take them into custody.
About an hour later, Sherman returned to the courtroom with lawyer Christopher Reid, who represents the Ardoch Algonquins, and Smitheman told the judge that he and Reid had reached "an accommodation" on her behalf that was "motivated on compassionate grounds."
Reid was blunter.
"Ms. Sherman is sole support for three children and she will lose them if she goes to jail," he told judge.
Consequently, she had agreed to enter into an undertaking promising to comply in future with the "letter and spirit" of Cunningham's Sept. 27 injunction. The injunction requires that Frontenac Ventures have "unfettered and unobstructed access" to its mineral exploration claim - about 30,000 acres of Crown and private land in North Frontenac.
It specifically bars the Algonquin communities living in the area and "persons unknown" from "interfering with, disrupting or hindering" Frontenac Ventures, its employees, agents or contractors. Having agreed on the record to future compliance with the injunction, a process known as purging contempt, Cunningham discharged the custodial portion of his order against Sherman and she was not sent to jail.
At the precise moment she was being dealt with in the second-floor courtroom, however, Lovelace was being placed in the Quinte Detention Centre transport van at the rear of the Frontenac County Court House. Chanting and ululating from a group of supporters, who had gone outside, could be heard faintly through the windows on the north wall of the court.
The sounds of outrage had been much louder, ringing in fact, an hour earlier when Cunningham's initial pronouncement of sentence was greeted by loud jeers of "Shame! Shame!" from the packed spectators' gallery. At its peak, a dark-haired woman from among the non-native supporters of the Algonquin leaned across the bar of the court, behind lawyers representing the attorney general, and berated the judge.
"This court is participating in the biggest public health disaster this country has ever seen. Do you understand that?" she yelled up at the judge.
Cunningham paused briefly, but didn't have her removed. Instead, he continued with sentencing, ordering that Lovelace pay a fine of $25,000, Sherman a fine of $15,000 and the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation $10,000 for past conduct. He set additional fines of $2,000 a day for every day they're not in compliance in the future and ended by ordering the Ardoch Algonquin statement of defence struck.
They are precluded from bringing any application or motion before him until their contempt is purged.
Reid, putting it in ordinary language after the proceedings ended, said "they are booted out of the court."
What that means in the short term, he said, is that his clients won't be allowed to mount their core defence in March when they return for a second round in these proceedings.
"The statement of defence," he explained, "challenges the constitutional validity of the Mining Act."
The perversity of the situation, he added, is that his clients are being punished for resorting to direct action instead of relying on the courts. But "they can't come to court now. Self-help is all that's left to them now."
At this point, Reid said he's talking to his clients about an appeal.
Cunningham, in explaining his reasoning for the sentence, said that the adoption of self-help flaunts the rule of law and can't be tolerated because "respect for our court system evaporates and our entire society suffers as a result."
His sentence, he added, had to send a message to others who might consider similar action.
Respect for the court system wasn't exactly inspired in the largely partisan crowd of spectators who watched as the two prisoners were taken into custody, however.
After Cunningham rose, those who weren't attached to Frontenac Ventures or the provincial Ministry of Northern Development and Mines stood en masse and applauded Sherman and Lovelace, some ululating, an expression in sound that can denote sorrow, celebration, honour, defiance or all of them at once.
Gloria Morrison - the wife of Frank Morrison, one of only two non-natives charged in the contempt proceedings - was seething in a quiet and dignified way. Her husband has attended the court case only intermittently when he's been obliged to but she's been a fixture since hearings began last summer.
The Morrisons own 100 acres of managed forest and marshland north of Snow Road, property crossed by the Big Antoine and Little Antoine creeks and a man-made stream, which all flow directly into the Mississippi River. They're opposed to uranium drilling and believe it endangers both the surface and sub-surface waters in the area.
They were devastated when they discovered that Frontenac Ventures had come onto their land without permission sometime in 2006, staked a prospecting claim that covers about 70 per cent of their holding, and that there was nothing they could do about it. According to Frank Morrison, the claim staking alone has destroyed the market value of the property.
It was Gloria Morrison who first alerted the Ardoch Algonquins to the sort of prospecting Frontenac Ventures was doing and asked them to get involved.
She's unhappy that her husband's case - like that of Christian Peacemaker David Milne - was severed from the main action against the Ardoch Algonquin earlier this week.
His Ottawa lawyers weren't provided in advance with essential documents by the Frontenac Ventures legal team, however. Consequently, his case had to be put over to March to allow for proper disclosure.
Gloria Morrison said she's been disillusioned by what she's seen since her involvement in this whole thing began.
At 57, she didn't have any experience with the courts before this, she explained. She had never even experimented with teenage rebellion or hippie culture: "I walked on green lights and picked up garbage off the street. I never smoked and don't drink."
She admits she had certain expectations about how things were supposed to work for law-abiding citizens. But after witnessing this case unfold, "it has not solved anything," she said. "It's painful and it has created a situation where many of us will follow."
Unlike Sherman, all of her children are grown and should it come to that, "I am fully able and willing to go to jail," Morrison said, "and no, I would not apologize either for protecting our air and water."
Reid was clearly upset by the outcome of the sentencing.
"I was expecting there would be a period of incarceration. I don't think anybody expected six months," and described it as "pretty draconian," he said outside the courtroom.
He was also unhappy with Sherman's predicament and the pressure such a lengthy sentence had imposed on her. "If her kids were now adults, she'd be in jail right now," he said, "but she can't deprive them of a mother."
As for the fines "you might as well make it $10 million, as far as the ability to pay goes for these people."
Bluntly put, Reid said, "Bob Lovelace is a political prisoner. He's done nothing violent. He hasn't hurt anybody. He's in jail because of his beliefs."
suey@thewhig.com
Article ID# 906107
Posted By Sue Yanagisawa Whig-Standard Court Reporter, posted 2 days ago
The lawyer for a uranium prospecting company, frustrated by an Algonquin-led protest that disrupted the company's plans for test drilling north of Sharbot Lake last summer, said it gave him "no pleasure to ask for incarceration."
Yet Neal J. Smitheman asked for exactly that this week, the maximum jail sentence possible in fact, and substantial fines against Algonquin leaders who refused to 'purge' contempt charges by formally promising not to interfere in the future with his client, Oakville-based Frontenac Ventures Corp.
Yesterday morning, Superior Court Justice Douglas Cunningham gave Smitheman what he had asked for.
After observing that "they have not only engaged in a full-scale occupation of the Clarendon site, they have counselled others to do so as well," and telling those present in the courtroom that "compliance with the orders of this court are not optional," Cunningham ordered Ardoch Algonquin First Nation co-chief Paula Sherman and community spokesman Robert Lovelace jailed for six months.
Cunningham said the sentences could be discharged at any point if the two leaders agreed to purge their contempt. Until then, however, he directed the OPP to take them into custody.
About an hour later, Sherman returned to the courtroom with lawyer Christopher Reid, who represents the Ardoch Algonquins, and Smitheman told the judge that he and Reid had reached "an accommodation" on her behalf that was "motivated on compassionate grounds."
Reid was blunter.
"Ms. Sherman is sole support for three children and she will lose them if she goes to jail," he told judge.
Consequently, she had agreed to enter into an undertaking promising to comply in future with the "letter and spirit" of Cunningham's Sept. 27 injunction. The injunction requires that Frontenac Ventures have "unfettered and unobstructed access" to its mineral exploration claim - about 30,000 acres of Crown and private land in North Frontenac.
It specifically bars the Algonquin communities living in the area and "persons unknown" from "interfering with, disrupting or hindering" Frontenac Ventures, its employees, agents or contractors. Having agreed on the record to future compliance with the injunction, a process known as purging contempt, Cunningham discharged the custodial portion of his order against Sherman and she was not sent to jail.
At the precise moment she was being dealt with in the second-floor courtroom, however, Lovelace was being placed in the Quinte Detention Centre transport van at the rear of the Frontenac County Court House. Chanting and ululating from a group of supporters, who had gone outside, could be heard faintly through the windows on the north wall of the court.
The sounds of outrage had been much louder, ringing in fact, an hour earlier when Cunningham's initial pronouncement of sentence was greeted by loud jeers of "Shame! Shame!" from the packed spectators' gallery. At its peak, a dark-haired woman from among the non-native supporters of the Algonquin leaned across the bar of the court, behind lawyers representing the attorney general, and berated the judge.
"This court is participating in the biggest public health disaster this country has ever seen. Do you understand that?" she yelled up at the judge.
Cunningham paused briefly, but didn't have her removed. Instead, he continued with sentencing, ordering that Lovelace pay a fine of $25,000, Sherman a fine of $15,000 and the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation $10,000 for past conduct. He set additional fines of $2,000 a day for every day they're not in compliance in the future and ended by ordering the Ardoch Algonquin statement of defence struck.
They are precluded from bringing any application or motion before him until their contempt is purged.
Reid, putting it in ordinary language after the proceedings ended, said "they are booted out of the court."
What that means in the short term, he said, is that his clients won't be allowed to mount their core defence in March when they return for a second round in these proceedings.
"The statement of defence," he explained, "challenges the constitutional validity of the Mining Act."
The perversity of the situation, he added, is that his clients are being punished for resorting to direct action instead of relying on the courts. But "they can't come to court now. Self-help is all that's left to them now."
At this point, Reid said he's talking to his clients about an appeal.
Cunningham, in explaining his reasoning for the sentence, said that the adoption of self-help flaunts the rule of law and can't be tolerated because "respect for our court system evaporates and our entire society suffers as a result."
His sentence, he added, had to send a message to others who might consider similar action.
Respect for the court system wasn't exactly inspired in the largely partisan crowd of spectators who watched as the two prisoners were taken into custody, however.
After Cunningham rose, those who weren't attached to Frontenac Ventures or the provincial Ministry of Northern Development and Mines stood en masse and applauded Sherman and Lovelace, some ululating, an expression in sound that can denote sorrow, celebration, honour, defiance or all of them at once.
Gloria Morrison - the wife of Frank Morrison, one of only two non-natives charged in the contempt proceedings - was seething in a quiet and dignified way. Her husband has attended the court case only intermittently when he's been obliged to but she's been a fixture since hearings began last summer.
The Morrisons own 100 acres of managed forest and marshland north of Snow Road, property crossed by the Big Antoine and Little Antoine creeks and a man-made stream, which all flow directly into the Mississippi River. They're opposed to uranium drilling and believe it endangers both the surface and sub-surface waters in the area.
They were devastated when they discovered that Frontenac Ventures had come onto their land without permission sometime in 2006, staked a prospecting claim that covers about 70 per cent of their holding, and that there was nothing they could do about it. According to Frank Morrison, the claim staking alone has destroyed the market value of the property.
It was Gloria Morrison who first alerted the Ardoch Algonquins to the sort of prospecting Frontenac Ventures was doing and asked them to get involved.
She's unhappy that her husband's case - like that of Christian Peacemaker David Milne - was severed from the main action against the Ardoch Algonquin earlier this week.
His Ottawa lawyers weren't provided in advance with essential documents by the Frontenac Ventures legal team, however. Consequently, his case had to be put over to March to allow for proper disclosure.
Gloria Morrison said she's been disillusioned by what she's seen since her involvement in this whole thing began.
At 57, she didn't have any experience with the courts before this, she explained. She had never even experimented with teenage rebellion or hippie culture: "I walked on green lights and picked up garbage off the street. I never smoked and don't drink."
She admits she had certain expectations about how things were supposed to work for law-abiding citizens. But after witnessing this case unfold, "it has not solved anything," she said. "It's painful and it has created a situation where many of us will follow."
Unlike Sherman, all of her children are grown and should it come to that, "I am fully able and willing to go to jail," Morrison said, "and no, I would not apologize either for protecting our air and water."
Reid was clearly upset by the outcome of the sentencing.
"I was expecting there would be a period of incarceration. I don't think anybody expected six months," and described it as "pretty draconian," he said outside the courtroom.
He was also unhappy with Sherman's predicament and the pressure such a lengthy sentence had imposed on her. "If her kids were now adults, she'd be in jail right now," he said, "but she can't deprive them of a mother."
As for the fines "you might as well make it $10 million, as far as the ability to pay goes for these people."
Bluntly put, Reid said, "Bob Lovelace is a political prisoner. He's done nothing violent. He hasn't hurt anybody. He's in jail because of his beliefs."
suey@thewhig.com
Article ID# 906107
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