Algonquin Resist Uranium Mine

dru — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:09:28 +0000

Sharbot Lake Algonquins and locals occupy mining site and enforce land claim

Welcome to Frontenac County. Ottawa is an hour's drive to the northeast, Kingston a similar distance to the south. Algonquin Provincial Park lies to the northwest.

This beautiful lake is one of many in the centre of an ongoing uranium mining controversy. The 30,000 acres surrounding this lake in North Frontenac lie atop the edge of the Ottawa Valley’s Canadian Shield. This land is often referred to as the “Land ‘O’ Lakes” tourist region.

With vast areas of Crown land, this region is also home to a healthy deer, wolf and moose population, and other rare or endangered species such as the blue lined skink and flying squirrel. Many residents live in the strip of forest and wetlands between Bon Echo and Sharbot Lake provincial parks. Many who live in the region have conservation in their bones, and local political issues, prior to this year, included deer management and spring bear hunting.

However, residents and tourists alike have recently learned that this area is also rich in uranium. A recent worldwide surge in nuclear power development has driven up the price of uranium, leading many companies to begin exploring the possibility of mining for the radioactive element.

Canada has a long history of uranium mining. Uranium mined by Sahtugot'ine (the Dene First Nation of Sahtu, or Great Bear Lake), who were hired by the government, was used to create the first atomic bombs, detonated on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. C.D. Howe, then Minister of Munitions and Supply in William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal Government, issued a press statement saying, "It is a particular pleasure for me to announce that Canadian scientists have played an intimate part, and have been associated in an effective way with this great scientific development." Though an official warning was issued by the federal government in 1931, warning of the risks of handling uranium ore, mine workers were not informed of the risk.

In the 1960s, many of the Sahtugot'ine workers began to die of cancer of the lung, colon, and kidney. Studies of radioactive-based illnesses in the Elliot Lake region of northern Ontario, dating back to 1974, show the same correlation between uranium mining and carcinogenic diseases.

Today, Canada is the largest producer of uranium in the world, accounting for an estimated 27.9 per cent of world's uranium production. About 15 per cent of Canada's electricity comes from the country's 18 nuclear reactors.

Frontenac County is also home to a strong off-reserve Aboriginal population. About two months ago, when it was discovered that the Frontenac Ventures Development Corporation had begun staking Crown land for mining exploration, this community began protesting the potential mine.

Staking of land by hired prospectors has been done since settlers first arrived in Canada. Prospectors are allowed, according to the Ontario mining law of 1870, to enter any land, including that designated as Crown land or which is privately owned, and stake claims on the subsurface rights for future mining exploration. To date there have been 70 claims staked in North Frontenac alone.

The only obstacle to the 1870 mining law is a land claim filed by local Algonquins that dates back to 1772. Despite a “dispute” process set up by the Ministry of Mining and Northern Development, which allows land owners to disagree with the presence of prospecting stakes on their property, there is no process in place to deal with mining exploration on aboriginal land. Landowners in Frontenac County have little recourse when it comes to the mining company’s plans, which include digging trenches, cutting trees, pulling out core samples and releasing uranium into groundwater supplies and the air. As a result, many such residents have supported the cause of the aboriginal land claim.

The protest began on June 29, day of National protest by Aboriginal peoples across Canada. Members of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation occupied Frontenac Ventures' base camp on Road 509, just north of the village of Sharbot Lake, Ontario.

Update: On Saturday, September 22, two canoes were launched from the head of the Mississippi River in Ardoch, Ontario. They will travel to the Parliament buildings in Ottawa in order to demonstrate that the water systems connect and that, for the safety of all residents within air and water distance of the potential uranium mine, an immediate solution must be found.

Megan Hughes is the author of Me and My Bike: An Ontario motojournal

» Canadian Council for Nuclear Responsibility

Uranium: Lake

Uranium: Baby

Uranium: AAFNA Flag

Uranium: Wake Up

Uranium: Locals support Algonquin

Uranium: settlers camp

Uranium: Not in my backyard

Uranium: Inside the gate

Uranium: The gate

Uranium: top of the mine building

Uranium: Rising Storm

The Dominion - Megan Hughes

Algonquin Resist Uranium Mine