www.freeki6.ca
O-ho-wa-sha, E-she-sa / Here's what's happening
I finally decided to create a home page for myself and do what I do best, stir things up, thats what a spoon is good for. Anyway it all started back in a cool September Day way back in the year 19??. It's been a wild ride ever since. Go figure, they lied when they told me it was going to be alright. WARNING!!! Apparently I've offended some people with what I post on my page. Comments, articles, opinions, music choices, messages back and forth in my cbox. It has never been, still is not, nor will it ever be my intention to purposely offend anyone, but if you are offended, as Don Burnstick likes to say...... "TOO BAD!!!". A spoon is a spoon is a spoon, no matter how you stir with it. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED.
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Government of Canada's Ultimate Objective for 1st Nations
"OUR OBJECT IS TO CONTINUE UNTIL THERE IS NOT A SINGLE INDIAN IN CANADA THAT HAS NOT BEEN ABSORBED INTO THE BODY POLITIC, AND THERE IS NO INDIAN QUESTION AND NO INDIAN DEPARTMENT". INDIAN DEPARTMENT DEPUTY MINISTER D.C. SCOTT; 1921
Still stirring it up
More pictures at the link below.
http://www.darlingtonmediaworks.com/garth/2008/NapaneeLovelaceProtest/
http://www.ccamu.ca/
Check out the link below. She is the Documentary Film Maker working with KI.
http://www.andreecazabon.ca/blog
www.freeki6.ca
APRIL 11, 2008 : Join us in our 1000 letters to Premier Dalton McGuinty campaign : People before Profit! on www.FreeKI6.ca
(request for this banner can be sent to: andree@andreecazabon.ca: Please add this to your site and share it with friends and supporters along with this text:)
3 Simple Steps X 2 friends = www.FreeKI6.ca
Please distribute to all your email contacts and database
Friends and supporters,
Please join us in freeing the Aboriginal leaders jailed by the Ontario government. Only massive public support sent directly to the desk of Premier Dalton McGuinty can sway this grave injustice.
www.freeKI6.ca is a simple one-stop site to give voice to the general public to free the Aboriginal leaders. The voice of the people must be heard louder than profit. The more letters are sent directly to Premier Dalton McGuinty, the faster they may be freed from prison. Our goal: 1000 letters to Premier Dalton McGuinty. People before profit.
On the website you will find a quick link to the desk of Premier Dalton McGuinty (with a copy to Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bryant) and a petition along with links to the issue.
On March 18th, 2008 five community leaders, including Chief Donny Morris from Kitchenumahkoosib Inninuwug (KI) were jailed for six months for contempt of a court injunction which prohibits them from interfering with a mineral exploration program by Platinex Inc. Financial fines will follow. The community is gravely concerned about the possible impact to their land and water where they have lived in the Boreal forest for over 5,000 years and have expressed this peacefully.
The Supreme Court of Canada recognizes that consultation with aboriginals must take place before drilling can start on their land. The Province of Ontario has failed all Ontarians by allowing the six leaders to be jailed and ignoring the consultation process. The 100-year old Ontario Mining Act is being used to allow private companies complete access to environmental land and water, regardless of Human Rights or potential environmental disasters. This Mining Act is why Aboriginal leaders are in jail.
The KI-6 prisoners must be freed immediately so that they may be seated at the consultation table beside their Treaty partner, the Government of Ontario, in discussion with Platinex Inc. or any companies wishing to conduct business on the land and/or in the water near aboriginal territory.
Please help free the KI-6 from prison, starting with the immediate release of the only woman and grandmother, Cecilia Begg, followed by the five men from KI and Robert Lovelace of the Ardoch Algonquin community jailed in Lindsay, Ontario.
Help stop this grave injustice by visiting http://freeki6.ca/ to follow the 3 simple steps in releasing the Aboriginal leaders and please, please, ask 2 (or more!) of your friends to follow in your lead.
http://freeki6.ca/
April 9th, 2008 from Thunder Bay prison
We had a conference call yesterday discussing the appeal with our lawyer. We want out of jail but not just for the sake of getting out of jail. How we resolve this is crucial in settling the groundwork in dealing with First Nation issues in the future.
The way I see it, we are at a crossroad in KI’s history. We have to make a choice in how to proceed for future generation. We are at the same important crossroad as when our elders signed the Treaty in 1929.
I am not making a negative judgment on our elders who signed the Treaty at the time because they did the best they could with the knowledge they had back then. They also signed a document in English, a language they could not read or understand. In their teachings, our elders encouraged us to uphold that treaty and to always continue to have a peaceful and respectful relationship with the Ontario Government for ‘as long as the sun shines and as long as the grass grows…” (That’s a direct quote from the Treaty of 1929 and it is on many of our billboards).
Because of our relationship as a Treaty partner, we thought we would live in friendship and co-habitation in sharing the land with our Treaty partner. A two-way partnership.
But obviously, from the Ontario Government’s persective: the Treaty simply meant that we surrendered everything except what is within the small boundaries of the reserve.
But that wasn’t our perspective when we signed the Treaty.
And it is these two perspectives that we are living right now.
In 1929, our leaders thought the Treaty was in the best interest of our people, at the time and for future generations. I certainly don’t blame them for the decision they made back then.
But now this Treaty is coming to a head. We are sitting in jail as a direct result of the government’s interpretation of that Treaty. They really do believe that we simply surrendered everything.
I had a frank discussion with Phil Fontaine when he visited us on pushing a Memorandum of Understanding between First Nations and the mining industry.
Interestingly, in his home community of Saugeen First Nation in Manitoba, the leaders in generation past sold a portion of their land to a pulp company. At the time, they thought that this would benefit the community and it did for a few years (just like it would for us with Platinex)… but now that the trees are all gone and that the river is polluted as a direct result of a decision made in the early 1920s. Today, Phil Fontaine was born into the direct consequences of no clean water, no trees and of course: no wildlife. All that community has to sustain itself is education and money. Their choices are limited.
But in KI, we have a choice. We still have pristine water, land and animals. We don’t want to jeopardize this with the potential of our lake being drained for an open mine pit. Yes, we know, sooner or later pollution and global warming will catch up to us and we may no longer have pure water, trees and animals. At that time we can look at other options such as open pit mine. But that’s not up to us to decide right now, it will be up to future generations.
We are not looking for a perfect solution to this problem just the best decision for the future of our community. That is our mandate, right now as leaders of our community. And that is why I am sitting in jail: to protect our future.
March 26, 2008 - Press Conference - North-South Partnership
Letter to Samuel:
Hey Sam,
I am writing this during the press conference in TO. Our bush pile is smoking, we are adding more wood and heat. We will not stop till we have a full blown forest fire under McGuinty. Don't get fat on that jail food.
Jack Lapointe - Ardoch Algonquin First Nations
March 25, 2008
CBC Newsworld - National covers KI-6 and interviews Samuel from prison.
March 21, 2008 -
Phil Fontaine visits the KI-6 in jail
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/080321/n032119A.html
MARCH 18TH: FROM PRISON
Message from Samuel:
This is it. They have sentenced us to six months in jail in Thunder Bay. But we are together and we are strong. We worry most about Cecilia and hope that people out there will look after her interests in prison. A staff here went to check up on her for us and today she is doing better. Last night there was a candle vigil for her. Thank you!
NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy came to visit and offer his support. NAN is strategizing and supporting us on the outside. Thursday: a visit from Phil Fontaine.
We are in quarantine until Wed and then we can receive 2 visits a week and make outgoing collect calls.
We miss K.I.
PLEASE, ALL OF YOU OUT THERE, HELP US GET OUT OF JAIL by contacting the Governement of Ontario and Aboriginal Affairs. Ask them to GET US OUT OF JAIL: WE WANT TO GO HOME.... but not if it means that we allow our beautiful lake to be pollutted, not if means that our ancestral lands will be destroyed and our people and their children affected. The province needs to sit with us and work with us as Treaty partner and ensure that we are consulted BEFORE private entreprise stake claims on our lands. Throwing royalty money at us is NOT consultation. We don't want Platinex money. We want to protect our land. Only the province can fix this mess. PLEASE WRITE TO THEM.
But to protect our land, our lake, our people: we are prepared to stay in jail until the government truly work with us.
(Scroll to the bottom of this site to get their email address.)
Message from Chief Donny Morris:
Hello to everyone back home. We are okay. Please: everyone stay strong and do not waver in the struggle. DO NOT GIVE IN!
I would like to ask that all of the community work together and to support the working group. I also would ask that our families and especially our children are looked after. Especially Cecilia's. Please make sure they have emotional support, food and wood in our absence.
I also ask that the leadership back home ensures proper support for Cecilia. She needs your voice and support.
We are okay. STAY STRONG!
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug Leaders to be Sentenced on March 17
For ongoing Protest over Mining Claims
The March 17 court proceeding will be at the Superior Court of Justice, 277 Camelot Street in Thunder Bay at 11:00 a.m.
WHY AREN'T MCGUINTY AND ALL HIS MINISTERS BEING HELD IN CONTEMPT OF THE SUPREME COURT RULINGS?
ARE THEY ABOVE THE LAW?
Monday March 17, 2008
KI HOMELAND SECURITY
SHOWDOWN MONDAY MARCH 17, 2008
Good morning from the "Land of Sentencing for Standing up for Your Rights" good people. This is it folks. It does not get anymore real than this. Three hours left. Sentencing on at 10:00 AM this morning. I just want to say thank you to everybody this fine morning. They may make "my horse surrender". But they will never crush my spirit.
7:20 AM Monday morning, myself and Chris Reid our lawyer, are doing a live interview on CBC Radio at their studio. The interview will be broadcast nationally across Canada.
We also have a documentary film maker who will be in Th. Bay filming as much as she can, especially at the court house. Check out her link above. She is currently in KI and will be flying to Thunder Bay on Saturday with the Chief and three of our elders. She has been working with us since last October. What do you think? North of 60, KI style? Maybe I'll let Adam Beach play my part.......
There is also a pow-wow this weekend at the Lakehead University Field House. Negahneewin College is organizing a KI Fundraiser during the pow-wow.
I want everybody to understand that defeat is not an option. We firmly believe we've already won. No matter what happens on Monday, there is only one who knows all and is in control. We may not always understand why things happen the way they do. If we did, we wouldn't need a "God" of our understanding to be there for us. Just have faith everybody. Even if we get incarcerated, that will be a small price to pay for what we are fighting for, neither will that be the end. We've already made great strides in affecting a change on how the gov't's need to deal with Fisrt Nations when it comes to "our land", and we've only begun.
For those of us that are getting sentenced, we've made peace within ourselves to face the outcome, whether it be fines or incarceration, with courage and are willing to pay any price for the greater cause of First Nation getting recognized as Nations. Only Nations can be signitories to a treaty, and the Crown did sign treaties with the First Nations of this great land of ours. "Our home and NATIVE land'.
I don't want anyone, especially First Nations, to get the notion that we've lost especially if we get incarcerated. Never mind the details, focus on the BIG PICTURE. It's time the governments and the mining industry changed how they conduct business with First Nations. We were here first. We're not referred to as "First Nations" for nothing.
To the government and the mining industry, we may be just a bunch of "stick indians in the bush", BUT we got balls!!!
Don't forget our brother Mr Bob Lovelace, the political prisoner of the province and all of Ardoch Algonquin First Nation. Bob is still serving his six month sentence for contempt and a $25,000. fine plus $2000.00 per day he refuses to purge his contempt. AAFN as a community was also fined $10,000.00. They are also remaining steadfast in their ongoing struggle.
The second round of contempt charges for AAFN is taking place in Kingston on Tuesday March 18, 2008. The day after KI sentencing. If Justice Cunningham hasn't been "converted", more AAFN members and their supporters will be going to jail. So keep them in your thoughts and prayers. They are of the same mind as KI. Focussing on the big picture. I am of the understanding that other AAFN members and their non-native supporters that have not been charged with contempt to date are standing in line to go to jail.
Please read the following in it's entirety and take ACTION according to your CONSCIENCE
A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE
S
ometimes in life one must look back in history for inspiration. This is especially true when current events overwhelm us and threaten to make us lose perspective. History has many lessons to teach us about political dissent and social change. The lessons are not easy for us to contemplate for they challenge our natural desires for order, predictability, faith in our institutions and simple comfort.
Yet at times like these it is our responsibility, as individuals and community members, to scrutinize our own views about how our governments operate and in whose interests. Failure to do so from time to time will only lead to an erosion of our fundamental rights as human beings.
Peaceful protests have much historical precedence: Mahatma Ghandi in India, Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Rosa Parks in Alabama, USA are but three high profile examples that come to mind. They have shown that non-violent defiance of unjust laws can and must lead to positive change.
In Kingston, Ontario, February 15, 2008, Judge Cunningham of the Frontenac County Court passed sentence on a respected and admired Queen’s University Lecturer and Fleming College Counsellor, and father of seven, Robert Lovelace, for his political views. An Assistant Professor from Trent University, Paula Sherman, accompanied him in sentencing, along with three other community members in good standing.
Their "crime" was peaceful, open and good faith opposition to granting of mineral rights by the Ontario Government that contravened the rulings of the Supreme Court of Canada. Those rulings have confirmed the Province has a duty to consult and accommodate if the Crown has knowledge of the potential existence of an Aboriginal or treaty right, whether or not that right has been legally established, and where the Crown contemplates conduct that may adversely affect it. Furthermore, the Ontario Government has well developed guidelines on how mining proponents should consult with Aboriginal people at every stage of the mineral development process (including exploration).
In other words the defendants (Robert Lovelace and all) were politically objecting to the probably illegal and certainly unjust actions of the Ontario Government (and mining proponent) and calling for a fair political hearing to resolve the dispute (beyond the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines’ belated and insincere attempt at mediation). The specific "crime" was to hold a non-violent sit-in in the face of an unfounded court injunction.
As punishment, Robert Lovelace was incarcerated for six months and fined $25,000, plus $2,000 per day for every day that he defies the court order not to obstruct Frontenac Ventures from accessing the site. Paula Sherman, a single mother, was fined $15,000 but not incarcerated after she pleaded for leniency facing the loss of custody of her three young children. Their Ardoch Community was also fined $10,000 for its support.
In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?
- Aurelius Augustinus (Saint Augustine), 354 –430 AD
There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all, i.e., the voice of conscience even though such obedience may cost many a bitter tear, and even more, separation from friends, from family, from the state to which you may belong, from all that you have held as dear as life itself. For this obedience is the law of our being.
- Mahatma Ghandi, 1869 - 1948
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Another three Aboriginal people, including a 78 year old Ardoch Elder, Harold Parry, who has a heart condition, were charged with contempt and/or sentenced, some with fines. Chief Doreen Davis and Earl Badour of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation have agreed to abide by the injunction but must return to court in March 2008 for sentencing. In exchange for freedom these protestors must remain in silence – facing harsh punishment if they fail to end their political protest.
Robert Lovelace’s legal defence, that the law he is protesting is unconstitutional under provisions of the 1982 Canadian Constitution Act, was dismissed by Judge Cunningham until such time as the contempt is "purged" by the defendant. This means Robert Lovelace no longer has a legal voice unless he submits to an unjust ruling. He is now by definition a political prisoner (someone held in prison for their political views) and at time of writing is incarcerated in Lindsay, Ontario at a provincial detention centre.
Both the university where Robert Lovelace teaches and the college where he counsels have upheld his position. Paula Sherman’s university is also supporting her position and sees her as no threat to the university or student body. Their own immediate community has embraced their struggle as have other communities and non-government organizations – near and far.
Robert Lovelace has remained strong and graceful in the full face of adversity of the Ontario Government.
Tthree "settlers" (non-native community members) are also facing contempt of court charges with hearing dates set for March 18, 2008. Several other community members live in fear they too will face charges and jail sentences for their peaceful roles in the protest. One settler, Frank Morrison, is the person who first discovered mining claim stakes and tree cutting on his private property. No notice of the exploration work was provided by the exploration company as required by the Province of Ontario. His "crime" was to dare to go to the protest site. The other two settlers, David Milne and John Hudson, are Christian Peacemaker Teams members, who’s "crime" was to visit the protest site to counsel non-violence.
Will they too go to jail and/or be heavily fined for their peaceful acts of conscience?
At the core of the issue is an utterly outdated provincial Mining Act and a mining company’s desire to explore for and develop a low grade, open-pit uranium mine (or mines) in North Frontenac County. While the proponent’s actions are normally legal under antiquated mining laws (they were framed during a time that pre-dates environmental science and the discovery of uranium), the clear motivation for its actions is simply profit at the expense of the environment, public health and human rights.
There is no compelling societal reason to develop another uranium mine – Canada exports over 80% of its production to places like the United States, France and Japan and has enough domestic capacity at current consumption rates to last about 285 years. Simply put we do not need any more uranium to meet our needs. Sadly for many communities across Canada today, corporate greed is apparently the only justification necessary in our current regime.
The land where the proponent has staked uranium claims includes Crown land owned by the Province (which in turn is ostensibly the embodiment of the people) and private property. The private property owners for the most part do not own mineral rights under the surface of their land, and have no say in mineral exploration and development according to the Ontario Mining Act. The land also is in proximity to or includes rural municipalities and townships that would like to develop long-term plans without the whims and secrecy of mining interests controlling their futures.
The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession.
- Mark Twain, 1835-1910
Change your thoughts and you change your world.
- Norman Vincent Peale, US Clergyman, 1898 - 1993
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The same land claimed by mining interests is also subject to a comprehensive native land claim by the Algonquin First Nations in the region who have not ceded this territory to the Crown. The Supreme Court of Canada has made it clear that whenever land development permits are being requested it is the duty of the Crown to consult with First Nation peoples if there is any question about the circumstance of title to the land, no matter how tenuous. The Ontario Government not only failed in its duty, it issued mineral exploration permits to the proponents without any notice to anyone (as there is no requirement for notification under the current mining law).
Last but not least the land is up-river and upstream from over one million citizens who rely on that very watershed and surrounding land for drinking water and locally-grown food supplies (many of which are organic). To date the Municipal Councils of Ottawa, Kingston, Perth, Carleton Place and eight rural governments have all voted to petition the Province of Ontario for a moratorium on uranium exploration and development in the Ottawa River watershed, for a re-vamping of the Ontario
Mining Act and to have Aboriginal land claims resolved.
This struggle raises some disturbing questions. Perhaps the most important is: Whose interests is the Ontario Mining Act serving? Is it possible our government, that we elect and finance, has been captured by the interests of a few in the mining industry at the expense of the many?
The citizens who are protesting this injustice are not criminals nor are they revolutionaries. They are not rich or powerful. They are not motivated by greed or domination. They are simply the fellows of good conscience from a good community speaking out peacefully against a reckless and dangerous government. They are just like you and me and our neighbours.
This issue is not only about freedom of dissent when a government has overstepped its authority, but about the freedom and responsibility of human beings to help shape their destiny and to oppose threats to their health, environment and welfare.
After reading these accounts please ask yourself: How do you feel? Are you comfortable that justice is being served in a democratic manner? Is this how the Canada that you know and love should treat its citizens? Is there anything you should be doing to help these people? Is your conscience clear?
It is only through the "court" of public opinion that this injustice can be redressed. Community concerns and public outcry have changed laws before and they will again, with your help.
Please support our efforts to rectify this grievous wrong. Please support Robert Lovelace, Paula Sherman, Frank Morrison and other concerned citizens awaiting trial or sentencing and join the historic community of First Nations and settlers who have united to fight this battle together. Please support every one of us who is acting in good conscience. Most of all please help yourself. If you don’t, one day, if this injustice passes us by unchecked, you too could find yourself acting out of conscience and facing the wrath of Ontario justice.
Treat the earth well: We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors; we borrow it from our Children.
- Ancient Native Proverb
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
- Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968
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Please Help! One Simple Act Will Support Our Efforts
Contact Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and ask him as our elected leader to:
- free Robert Lovelace from prison
- pardon all the protestors and cancel their fines
- grant a moratorium against uranium exploration and mining in eastern Ontario
- publicly review the Ontario
Mining Act
protect private property
resolve unsettled Aboriginal land claims
You may do so in the following ways
:
Online
: http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/default.asp
E-mail
: dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Write-in
: Dalton McGuinty, Premier
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Phone
: 1-416-325-1941 or 1-613-736-9573
Fax: 1-416-325-3745 or 1-613-736-7374
For more information
:
http://know-uranium.org http://ccamu.ca
info@know-uranium.org uraniumnews@mail.ccamu.ca
AND THE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE CONTINUES.....
TICK TOCK.....TICK TOCK.....TICK TOCK.....TICK TOCK.....TICK TOCK.....TICK TOCK.....TICK TOCK.....
Countdown to Getting Sentenced
Ah-mii-way...Pii-nuh-ma...Ba-nii-ma...Mii-nuh
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