Greenpeace backs Algonquin uranium protest
Representatives of First Nations communities have found a new ally in their bid to halt test drilling at a potential uranium mining site in eastern Ontario — Greenpeace.
The natives met with representatives of the environmental group on Friday aboard its icebreaker MV Arctic Sunrise, which arrived in Kingston, Ont., earlier that day as part of a month-long journey to Quebec City from Toronto.
David Martin, one of 19 people aboard the green ship draped with a yellow banner reading "No coal. No nuclear," said even uranium exploration, not just mining, risks environmental contamination.
Martin added that more than 20 years ago, he helped monitor environmental problems that resulted from uranium mining in Elliot Lake, Ont., and helped clean up the contaminated tailings there.
"So when I heard about the situation at Sharbot Lake, I thought, 'My God, they're doing it again. How can they be so stupid?" he said. "The solution here is just don't enter into this madness. Stop it before it goes any further."
That's a message the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquin First Nations are also trying to send through their occupation of an area near Sharbot Lake, about 60 kilometres north of Kingston, which began in late June.
They are calling for a moratorium on uranium mining and hope Greenpeace's high profile will get the Ontario government's attention on the issue, they told CBC Radio Friday.
"We have such huge non-native support," said Paula Sherman, co-chief of the Ardoch First Nation. " Here's the latest."
A judge has ordered the Algonquins to end their protest, which is blocking the mining exploration company Frontenac Ventures from doing the test drilling for uranium it had planned at the site. An injunction gives police the authority to arrest the protesters, but as of Friday, no arrests had been made.
The company argues that uranium can be mined with minimal environmental risk, and some residents near Sharbot Lake say mining would benefit the local economy.
The Greenpeace tour, which began Aug. 23 in Toronto and is to end on Sept. 29 in Quebec City, is intended to promote alternatives to coal and nuclear energy and speak out against "indiscriminate" logging of Canada's boreal forest.
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