Showing posts with label OPP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OPP. Show all posts

March 04, 2009

Mohawk Nation update

WE’RE BAAAACK!! “JUDICIAL CHICANERY” OF FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA SIDE-SWIPED – Call for investigation!

MNN. March 1, 200 9. On June 14, 2008, Kahentinetha and Katenies, two Mohawk women, were viciously attacked at the Cornwall Ontario border by a special squad of about twelve barking Canadian Border Services Agents CBSA dressed for combat. One woman was put into a torture stress situation meant to kill her. She suffered a trauma induced heart attack and is still recovering. The other was severely beaten and held incommunicado without access to medical attention or outside help. She is still recovering from her injuries.

Kahentinetha and Katenies live in the Mohawk communities of Akwesasne and Kahnawake. They think that everyone should be able to pass the illegal colonial border without being assaulted or killed.

No employee or official has shown any concern for the near fatal assault committed by the CBSA. They filed formal complaints for a full investigation, appropriate charges to be made against the offenders and reasonable compensation for their arrest, assault and illegal jailing. They sent requests to the Hon. Robert Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Ontario Provincial Police, the RCMP, the Mohawk Akwesasne Police and the CBSA. They all refused to investigate.

The two women have no money and no lawyer. They had no choice but to represent themselves. They filed a Federal Court of Canada lawsuit to force the police and government agents to investigate this attempted murder. For $2 they filed a Statement of Claim on the ”Assault, arrest and illegal detention” by Canada Border Services Agents [Kahentinetha & Katenies v. Queen, Section 48, Federal Court Act, T-1309-08]. At first the court registry employees seemed helpful. As time went on they issued misinformation and lost documents to sabotage the lawsuit.

The crown’s first response was to file an unprecedented countersuit for Kahentinetha and Katenies to pay for Canada‘s costs. To start they wanted over $20,000 on deposit before the case could be tried, plus all subsequent costs thereafter. They justified this by claiming that Kahentinetha and Katenies are “not residents of Canada”. They based this deceptive false argument on an unsubstantiated article from a newspaper published on the internet that speculated that Katenies lived in the U.S. Kahentinetha and Katenies submitted evidence that they live in Akwesasne and Kahnawake which are located in the portion of the colony of Canada known as “Quebec”. They are considered residents of Canada by the Canadian government. The court refused to accept the evidence.

Kahentinetha and Katenies were pleased with FCC’s order that respects Indigenous jurisdiction over Turtle Island. According to Canada’s own order and laws, the demand for money is a human rights violation and Canada must remove its border control.

Prothonotary Mireille Tabib of FCC issued the order that the two women must put $6,500 before the case would proceed. Kahentinetha and Katenies appealed. They argued that Canada cannot claim that Kahnawake and Akwesasne are not part of Canada so as to classify them as “non-residents” to make them pay court costs, while they treat these communities as parts of Canada, including having a border control in the center. This was a very strong argument. So they stooped to skullduggery. They “lost” the appeal documents.

When the crown did not reply, Kahentinetha phoned the FCC registry. She was told the documents were lost. Then they suddenly found them. Kahentinetha and Katenies were instructed to re-file the appeal and to ask “for an extension of time”.

FCC Judge Francois Lemieux then issued an order denying them the extension of time. He made no ruling on the unconstitutional posting of money by victims of a crime carried out by agents of the state. His deflection made it impossible for the women to appeal. Such a cynical and willful obstruction of justice was unexpected.

Kahentinetha and Katenies, having no money, no jobs and no attachable assets, had to abandon the case. Then on February 26, 2009, Kahentinetha filed a brand new suit on the “Reckless disregard for the safety and security of Indigenous Women at the Canadian Border, Akwesasne” [FCC File No. T-288-09, Kahentinetha v. Queen]. Not forgotten is that men are also abused at the border.

Canada continues judicial chicanery with blindness to the rule of law. As a signatory to international human rights instruments, Canada’s Constitution Act, 1982, states everyone is equal before the law. People, no matter what part of the world they come from, cannot be beaten up by state agents with impunity.

Hardball bullying that Kahentinetha and Katenies got from the FCC shows that it is impossible for Indigenous to get our issues discussed rationally and resolved according to generally accept Canadian and international legal principles. Canadian and international opinion does not support this high handed and unethical behavior.

Kahentinetha is not a Canadian citizen and Kahnawake and Akwesasne are not part of Canada as recognized by Prothonotary Mireille Tabib’s order of 23 October, 2008 [FCC No. T-1309] and by Judge Francois Lemieux’s order of 29 January 2009 [ FCC No. T-1309-08].

The assault can be proven by both civilian and government of Canada witnesses, by medical and hospital records and by videotape evidence which is in the hands of the CBSA.

Kahentinetha and Katenies’ main purposes for their legal actions are to demand a full and fair investigation of: 1) the assault; 2) the failure to investigate; 3) the loss of documents and unethical treatment by the FCC; and 4) the action to be tried without delay in the FCC at 30 McGill Street, Montreal, Quebec.

Canada continues to use its courts as a political weapon to allow its agents to abuse us with impunity. This case cannot be swept under the carpet of judicial chicanery.

Ieriwaonni & MNN Staff Mohawk Nation News www.mohawknationnews.com katenies20@yahoo.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN “BORDER” category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now! Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePressStore http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews; Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates http://.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php; Sign Women Title Holders petition! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois
Cases FCC T-1309-08 and FCC T-288-09, Kahentinetha v. Queen.
POLITICAL, JUDICIAL & BUREAUCRATIC “DOUCE BAGS”: Hon. Robert “Contemptible-flunkey-who-protects state-criminals-and-other-agents-of-repression” Nicholson, Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada, Tel: 613-941-6900, Nicholson.r@parl.gc.ca, Hon. John “”Judicial-hit-man” Sims, Deputy Attorney-General of Canada, Dept. of Justice, 284 Wellington St. TSA-6032, Ottawa Ontario K1A0H8 Tel: 613-946-2774, 613-992-3452, 613-942-4238, L. Bisson, Manager, Ministerial Correspondence Unit mcu@justice.gc.ca; Charles Payette 613-952-3653, Anil Kamal 613-943-2302 Fax: 613-952-6006; Federal Court of Canada, 30 McGill St., Montreal Quebec H2Y 3Z7 Tel: 1-800-927-5499, 514-283-4820, Prothonotary Mireille “Twisted-judicial-storm-trooping-gate-keeper-with-a-history-of-unconscionable-chicanery-against-Ongwehone” Tabib, Judge Francois “Rubber-stamping-petti-fogging-cheater” Lemieux; Sgt. J.L. Pettit, RCMP Headquarters, 1200 Vanier Parkway, Ottawa K1A 0R2 Tel: 613-993-7267 Fax: 613-993-0260; Louise Steele, Ontario Provincial Police, 777 Memorial Avenue, Orillia Ontario L3V 7V3 Tel: 705-329- 6051;
COLONIAL DOUCHE BAG PUPPETS: Phil Fontaine of the AFN is a partner in CBSA’s Sustainable Development Strategy 2007-9; Chris Kealey, Canada Customs Excise, Immigration Taxation Board, CBSA Media Relations 613-991-5197; President CBSA 613-952-3200, 613-957-0612, CBSA-ASFC@Canada.gc.ca; National Aboriginal Initiative CHRC 204-983-2189 1-866-772-4880 info.com@chrc-ccdp.ca; Canada Customs Port of Entry at Cornwall Island Ontario; Quebec Human Rights presidence@cdpdj.gc.ca; Akwesasne Mohawk Police 613-575-2250 ex 2400; Mohawk Security at the border 613-932-5183, 613-575-2340; Lance Markel, District Director CBSA 613-930-3234, 613-991-1214; Brent Lefebvre, Investigator CBSA; Susan St. Clair, Canadian Human Rights Commission, 344 Slater, Ottawa 613-995-1151, 1-888-214-1090, 613-943-5188; CBSA National Spokesperson 613-957-6500; Quebec Media Relations CBSA 514-350-6130; Chief Mohawk Council Akwesasne 613-575-2250 nbenedict@akwesasne.ca; Minister Stockwell Day, Ottawa 613-995-4432; Melissa Leclair Communications Pub. Safety 613-991-2863.

July 30, 2008

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino uses “mob tactics” on Shawn Brant and the Mohawks

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino uses “mob tactics” on Shawn Brant and the Mohawks

MNN. July 20, 2008. The death penalty has been abolished in Canada. Julian Fantino has been trying to do an end run around this. Last June 29th 2007 Fantino pronounced an extra judicial death sentence on Mohawk Shawn Brant of Tyendinaga. He has used the police forces to threaten Indigenous people. He is trying to provoke us to commit violent acts in self-defense to give him the excuse he wants to kill us.
According to the CBC News [7/19/08 7:00PM] the OPP Commissioner should be investigated for the comments he made under oath at the preliminary inquiry. Peter Rosenthal, who represents Mohawk demonstrator Shawn Brant, said on Saturday July 19th that he is calling for the government to investigate Commissioner Fantino’s comments to Brant on the phone during the aboriginal day of action.
Newly released court documents show the OPP were just minutes away from moving in to forcibly remove Indigenous demonstrators who did not block the road or close Highway 401 at protest sites in eastern Ontario. In wiretap transcripts Fantino threatened Brant, "Your whole world's going to come crashing down". Fantino also said he was going to “do everything I can within your community and everywhere to destroy your reputation".
The tap on Brant's cell phone was made without obtaining a court order. The Criminal Code allows for wiretaps without a court order in extreme situations. There was plenty of advance notice given about the day of action last year.
Gangster-like Commissioner Fantino admitted that ... there were snipers ready at this time and he was close to moving in.
Fantino’s “Mafioso” tactics could lead to another Ipperwash given the high number of colonial violations against Indigenous rights. We will continue to protect our people, our land and our possessions. Fantino is dangerous. He will not let the law stop him from trying to incriminate us.
Fantino’s actions contradicts the OPP's guidelines for dealing with Indigenous people as recommended in the wake of the OPP killing of Dudley George at Ipperwash Provincial Park in 1995.
Fantino quickly headed out of town. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty stands by his “mobster” commissioner.
MNN calls for the immediate resignation of Fantino.
MNN Staff
Shawn Brant's lawyer, Peter Rosenthal, speaks to the media on Saturday.
(CBC)
http://news.aol.ca/article/lawyer-brant/286930/

PLEASE NOTE : As can be seen, it’s becoming critical for legal actions to be taken soon to protect our rights. We have no funds. Canada is hiring costly law firms to defend their illegal actions and suppress our rights. If you can donate anything to our cause, it will be greatly appreciated. Donate to: PayPal, www.mohawknationnews.com, or “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:en/Thank you very much. Contact: katenies20@yahoo.com

See MNN Category: “TYENDINAGA“ New MNN Books Available Now! The books below, email us: Mohawk Warriors Three - The Trial of Lasagna, Noriega, 20/20$20.00 usd The On-Going Confusion between The Great Law and The Handsome Lake Code$ 20.00 usd The Agonizing Death of "Colonialism" and "Federal Indian Law" in Kaianere'ko:wa/Great Law Territory $20.00 usd Who's Sorry Now? The good, the bad and the unapologetic Mohawks of Kanehsatake $20.00 usd Rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy Karoniaktajeh $10 usd Warriors Hand Book Karoniaktajeh $10 usd Mail checks and money orders to... MNN P.O. Box 991 Kahnawake, QC

July 26, 2008

Oh, yeah, Fantinorama/Zaccardelli bs continues

Fantino & Zaccardelli: Canada's Keystone Cops

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:fLFTmMMGy_AJ:casselmanual.blogspot.com/2007/06/fantino-zaccardelli-canadas-keystone.html+jerry+falwell+fantino&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca


Current OPP Chief Fantino Gets To "Probe" His Old Friend, former RCMP Commissioner Zaccardelli.

Abbott & Costello as Keystone Cops

Well, fellers and gals, I just bet that will be an honest investigation.


Can you believe Stephen Harper's snottiness in handing over the Zaccardelli case to one of Zaccardelli's best cop friends, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino, all in the cynical assurance that Fantino's cursory review of the RCMP pension scandal will exonerate his old friend, Zaccardelli?

How often are Canadians going to abide being treated like gullible fools by the Stephen Harper government?

You think I'm being unfair to Fantino?

Read what Fantino told the Globe & Mail's Jeff Sallot when asked how the OPP commissioner might handle his review of the Ottawa Police Service case file about Zaccardelli and the pension fund scandal (G&M, June 20, 2007, page A4):

"I can't really look at a man's career of 30-some odd years of dedicated, loyal, committed service and forget all of that and just focus on this one piece of his career."

But, Commissioner Fantino, that is precisely what you are being ordered to do, to focus on Zaccardelli's abandonment of his solemn duty to support and protect all the RCMP staff under his leadership.

So do it, Fantino! Perform the investigative duty the government of Canada has demanded of you. If you don't, when your whitewash report is ready, well, there may be another government in power, and perhaps we will urge it to investigate your investigation, should it prove too forgiving of your dear friend Zaccardelli's failures. OPP Commissioner Fantino apparently has the notion that not worrying when your own officers' pension funds are stolen is no more than a picayune peccadillo.

Fantino, like Zaccardelli, is a comic-opera figure of Napoleonic strut and firing-squad posturings, both of them preposterous, prancing martinets out of a Franz Lehar operetta. Zaccardelli's silly, militaristic mien and threatening, toplofty deportment belong in a Marx Brothers farce set in some ruritanian state like Freedonia where the police chief has so many epaulettes he gets cheek burn.

Zaccardelli should be made to pay for the immense damage he did to the RCMP and the culture of fear he fostered in underlings ought to be visited upon him.

But now here comes this arrogant OPP copper Fantino on the very eve of accepting leadership of the scandal investigation, implying that he will not fully address the criminal activity involved in stealing the pension funds of RCMP officers, and implying that he will overlook the fact that, when this criminal theft of funds was reported to Zaccardelli, the whistleblowing RCMP officer who reported the scandal was threatened with punishment, silence and dismissal.

Fantino reportedly said he's surprised at all the vilification that fell on Zaccardelli's head.

Don't you get it, Julian?

The crime happened on Zaccardelli's watch and he tried to bury the crime and so he takes the fall.

He's the top cop of the land and he buries crime?

Where in hell did you get your training in police ethics, Fantino? At a fascist rally?

I hope every Canadian will watch this probe by Fantino with hawk eyes.

Canada, don't let these two constabulary pomposities off the hook for one minute!


Part 2


With constabulary duties to be done, to be done,

A policeman's lot is ne'er a guilty one.


Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Juvenal, Roman satirist, Satire 6.346-8


"But who will guard the guards?" asks the famous Latin poser, a question as old as Plato's Republic. And, just in case you think Socrates, Plato's mouthpiece, had the lock on nifty answers, the blabbermouth egghead dropped the ball on this little query.

Plato contrives to have the Athenian citizens ask their usual scripted question. These Athenians are always waiting offstage in Platonic dialogues, toying prissily with the hems of their chitons, flashing one another and playing grab-ass until called upon to utter the naïve question, said question always apposite to Plato's rhetorical needs.

Their pert query? "Duhhhhh, tell us, O Wise Sayer of Sooth, who is going to protect the city from its own protectors." Socrates says the protectors themselves will police themselves. Athens (read Socrates) will train them not to salivate each time they are given more power.

After this finely tuned moral training, says Socrates, the protector guards (modern translation: 'cops') won't want to steal the good wine, lie with the cutest slaves, sell secrets to the enemy, take bribes from the olive-oil merchants, or absolve their guard buddies of punishment for guard crimes. These crack troops, moral gumdrops to a man, will police us because of their own 'taught' virtue.

No, they won't.

By the very nature of the duty we ask them to perform, policemen are prone to be corrupt, for we give them powers denied to ordinary citizens. Whenever extraordinary power is granted to humans, soon or late, that power is tested, used and promptly abused. Lord Acton denominated the abuse aptly in an oft-quoted sentence from one of his letters to Bishop Creighton in 1887:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

Earlier, in 1770, William Pitt the Younger, British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1778, in a speech in the House of Lords said: "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it."

Then what is the quick, easy answer? There is none.

Did you observe the first part of the recent trial in British Columbia where, once again, the RCMP was allowed to be investigated by other cops? The results were predictable. The RCMP officer who shot a young man in the back of the head because he was drinking a beer in public did nothing wrong! Followed acceptable procedure. Through an utterly preposterous RCMP account of a supposed fight in the police station, the officer did his duty. Oh yeah! That's why we have an RCMP. To blow the brains out of a guy having a drink after a hockey game.

Or perhaps not? Perhaps you, like me, do not accept police behaviour like that?

The police must NOT be allowed to investigate

themselves. EVER.

What has the Harper government just done?

Handed a cop probe over to….cops.


Saturday, June 23, 2007:

Meanwhile, at RCMP HQ, the hurried resignations and scurryings to exit the building continue. Check out Mr. Gavin who just resigned. Pure as the driven snow? Mais, bien sûr!

But, with regard to the RCMP, let's hope, to coin a phrase, it ain't over until the caught laddy sings.

June 19, 2008

Toronto 18 case takes strange twist!!

ANDREW WALLACE/TORONTO STAR
Isabel Teotonio Jun. 19, 2008
In a stunning turn of events, a Crown prosecutor yesterday accused his star witness in the Toronto 18 terror case of fabricating some of the evidence about a so-called terrorist training camp.

Police mole Mubin Shaikh was caught off guard by prosecutor John Neander's suggestion that he had lied when he said the youth on trial did not know the true purpose of the camp.

Neander called some of Shaikh's testimony "an invention" designed to protect the defendant.

Neander called some of Shaikh's testimony "an invention" designed to protect the defendant.

Although Shaikh agreed that he considered himself "a protector of the vulnerable" – a reference to the youths who attended the December 2005 camp – he rejected any notion that he had been untruthful on the witness stand.

Neander pointed to inconsistencies in three areas of testimony given by Shaikh during this trial and in previous proceedings.

One of the crucial discrepancies involved why the teens were told they had to clean up the campsite when leaving.

During a preliminary hearing, Shaikh testified "we did a sweep to conceal" and cover up "anything that would give away the nature of our activities."

But during this trial, he testified the youths were given a cover story and told to clean up the camp to protect the "chipmunks and squirrels" from choking on what they'd left behind.

Neander reminded Shaikh that he had described the nature of the camp as "nefarious" and questioned why they would've needed a cover story when its true purpose was evident since they had participated in firearms training and listened to terrorist rhetoric.

"Every fibre of your being as a loyal Canadian and a devout Muslim recoiled at what (the alleged ringleader) was doing to corrupt them, isn't that correct?" Neander charged.

"Yes," Shaikh replied.

"That's why now you maintain this incorrect pretext that there was some effort ... to mislead the youths as to the purpose of the cleaning up the camp," shouted Neander.

But Shaikh remained steadfast yesterday that alleged ringleaders had concocted an innocent explanation for the camp and that the teens had no idea its intended purpose was to prepare jihadi warriors.

Defence lawyer Mitchell Chernovsky pointed out to Shaikh that the Crown had suggested he lied under oath.

"I seek refuge with Allah for such an implication," said Shaikh, denying the charge.

Another area of dispute revolved around who was present during a speech by the alleged ringleader in which he said "we're not officially part of Al Qaeda but we share their principles and methods."

Initially, Shaikh testified that everyone at the camp was present during the Al Qaeda comment, yet later said he wasn't sure who was listening.

Yesterday he changed his tune again, saying the Al Qaeda comment may not even have been part of the inflammatory speech and said he didn't know who heard it.

Shaikh was a police informant who infiltrated the group before it was busted in a massive police sweep in the summer of 2006, when 14 adults and four youths were arrested. Of the original 18, only 11 still face charges.



May 09, 2008

Is there enough to go around?

Okay, folks, face it. Ontario is falling to bits although it looks just fine if you're not looking very hard. But the cracks which are being wallpapered over are being to show STRESS.

How far can they stretch the "security forces" and maintain the budget? That would SEEM to be the question, when in fact the question really is: Why are the tac squads being raided in order to cover the state coming to the rescue of the plutocracy!

It was interesting to find this editorial outta Muskoka on a google alert about Caledonia. (Remember: although not charged, those white hooligans in Caledonia cause the trouble! )

Notice how the writer ( obviously a Conservative Party member ) doesn't mention it's the FEDERAL government's obligation to uphold treaty rights!

It's cheaper in the short and long to uphold human rights over policing to push people around for profit ..


May 07, 2008

A dispute that has disrupted life in a southern Ontario town for the past couple of years has raised the ire of District of Muskoka chair Gord Adams, especially once he heard that local police officers have been dispatched to deal with the conflict in Caledonia, as well as in Deseronto.

Bracebridge OPP Inspector Ed Medved reported to the district mayors last week that several local officers have been seconded to specialized police units across the province, including a police sergeant and two constables, to serve in the native disputes, as well as four of the detachment’s Emergency Response Team members, who are called away on an as-needed basis.

Although all of these officers are currently serving in our detachment area, it is of concern that local resources are being used to handle a dispute that has clearly gone on too long.

Adams is correct in saying the provincial government needs to step into the situation in Caledonia, which began in February 2006, and has cost taxpayers millions and millions of dollars. The OPP, or any other police force, should not be used as a long-standing peacekeeping resource. Responding to an emergency we understand, but a standoff turned into a stalemate is something else entirely.

The negotiations are not working, as the situation continues to flare up, and surely OPP resources could be better utilized in our district. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty should call up former Liberal premier David Peterson, who stepped into the breach two years ago to help solve the crisis, and demand some results.

While the officers seconded from Muskoka are being paid for by the province, as opposed to the District of Muskoka, there needs to be a more effective solution to negotiating situations like Caledonia, Deseronto and Ipperwash. The underlying issues at stake go far beyond provincial and certainly municipal jurisdictions. Having the OPP stand by to maintain civil order is a band-aid solution at best.

How much longer the McGuinty Liberals will let this pathetic stalemate continue before they develop constructive ways to remedy and prevent these disputes is unfortunately anyone’s guess.

KF


April 28, 2008

- The Activism at Six Nations today - neocolonialist version

Protesters refuse to clear Hwy 6


1 2
Ted Brellisford, The Hamilton Spectator.
click here to expandNatives gather below Highway 6 bypass at 6th Line Saturday ...
April 28, 2008
The Hamilton Spectator

CALEDONIA - Native protesters blocking the Highway 6 bypass in Caledonia are refusing to clear the road.

Spokesman Bryan Skye said Ontario Provincial Police asked this morning that barriers blocking each end of the bypass be dismantled. Protesters refused and say they’ll keep the road closed until police stand down from a confrontation in eastern Ontario.

Haldimand County Mayor Marie Trainer says some residents have already talked about taking the law into their own hands to end the Six Nations highway blockade.


Trainer says the renewed blockade is forcing motorists to go through Caledonia, straining a heritage bridge which is up for repairs in a few weeks.

She says it's putting even more strain on residents, some of whom have gathered near the occupation site to discuss taking action on their own.

The OPP and Mohawks have been staring each other down in Deseronto since Friday, when a native leader was arrested for breaching a court order.

Police removed a barrier blocking a road there at about 8.30 a.m. Natives at the Caledonia blockade said it was unmanned and that there was no violence. But a spokesman said the local blockade will continue until the standoff over an occupied quarry in Deseronto is resolved.

Skye said the Hwy 6 blockade is not connected to land claims issues in Caledonia
Instead, he said it is a show of support for Mohawks in eastern Ontario. Skye said is now part of a wider strategy among members of the Six Nations confederacy.

With files from The Canadian Press


Watch the video




Background articles on Ardoch Lake, stop uranium mining in Ontario!!

http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=729

Canada Uranium update

3rd August 2007

As Cameco faces an image problem, associated with its uranium mining in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Ontario, another uranium mining company, Frontenac Ventures, is facing opposition to the opening of its mine from the Algonquin First Nations. The Algonquins are "asserting their aboriginal rights in the name of the collective good, the preservation of the land against what they perceive as a dire threat of contamination through uranium exploration and mining." Amending legislation to combine surface and subsurface property rights in Eastern Ontario was recently supported by representatives of all political parties in the area where Frontenac is prospecting.


Cameco's image takes a beating

By Randy Burton, The StarPhoenix

2nd August 2007

Under normal circumstances, these would be the best of times for Cameco Corp.

The uranium giant is just coming off the most profitable quarter in its history, with earnings of $205 million on record revenues of $725 million.

It has been selling uranium at rates that are 61 per cent higher than a year ago and sales volumes have doubled. For 2007, revenue is expected to be up by a whopping 40 per cent over 2006.

All of this tends to blunt the complaints in the stock market that Cameco has been too complacent in an era of unprecedented prices for uranium and a wave of consolidation in the industry.

It should also help to ease concerns about the future of the company as one piece of bad news follows another.

In many ways, the past year can only be described as Cameco's annus horribilis. First it was the flooding at the company's Cigar Lake mine, caused by the failure of sealing metal doors and a shortage of underground pumps.

Then it was revealed that it will take at least a year longer than anticipated to bring the mine back into production. The latest blow to the company's profile came with the abrupt suspension of operations at its Port Hope, Ont., conversion facility following the discovery of soil contaminated with uranium.

The combination of these events has been driving down the price of the company's stock in spite of the balance sheet triumphs.

Cameco now finds itself characterized as "Sleepy Hollow" in the pages of the national Globe and Mail, where it is described as a staid sort of company where complacency is good enough.

Cameco's cautious approach to expansion makes an easy target in an era of rapid-fire deal making, but it ignores the fact that progress in uranium mining tends to be measured in decades rather than months. However, there's no doubt Cameco is operating in a climate of market hostility at the moment.

It was against this backdrop that Cameco president and CEO Jerry Grandey responded to the criticisms in discussing Cameco's financial results and operations with analysts and reporters this week.

While he acknowledges Cameco is suffering through some difficulties, Grandey argues the strength of the company's balance sheet is "a far better indication of the company's potential than recent news."

He also announced the company has launched a series of initiatives aimed at improving the company's oversight and accountability mechanisms.

"We understand that our operational performance must improve, from the top of the organization to the people on the front lines," he said.

Given the importance of Cameco to Saskatchewan, this is all good news. The question is whether it's enough for federal regulators.

Linda Keen, the tough, no-nonsense chief executive of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), has been less than pleased with Cameco's recent performance.

At a meeting with company officials in June, Keen made no bones about where she thinks responsibility lies for the string of setbacks the company has suffered of late.

She bluntly told Cameco officials that the CNSC has lost faith in the company following the flooding of the Cigar Lake mine.

"One of the very serious results of this is a lack of confidence that now the CNSC, the commission and the staff, has in Cameco and in the leadership of Cameco," she said.

Keen was having none of Grandey's argument that there were a number of root causes for the accident.

"Mr. Grandey, with due respect . . . I think there was a root cause of leadership and I think it's leadership that we all accept at the top of organizations for what happens in this," she said.

If you look at the situation from Keen's point of view, it's easy to understand her skepticism. After all, Cameco has also had flooding at its McArthur River mine back in 2003, and appears to have been extremely slow to learn the lessons of that disaster.

Keen also has pressures of her own to deal with. The CNSC has taken over from the old Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB), which she recently suggested was seen as being too close to industry. Thus, she is motivated to ensure the federal regulator is not only independent, but is seen to be independent.

Consequently, Keen is in no mood to cut Cameco any slack with regard to its responsibilities. In a recent speech to the Canadian Nuclear Association, she talked about licencees' need to understand that they also have a "social licence" to fulfil, "where a better understanding of their responsibility for transparency and clarity must be achieved with communities, public interest groups and citizens."

Cameco, of course, is a model corporate citizen within Saskatchewan, and Grandey himself has been more than generous in his contributions to community life.

But the confluence of problems on his watch has presented him with some serious challenges.

It's one thing to have back seat drivers in the investment community pick apart your decisions and whine about shareholder value. It's quite another when the head of the country's nuclear regulator suggests you're not doing your job.

After all, the company's future and the fate of thousands of jobs in the Saskatchewan uranium industry depend on satisfying the national licensing agency.

Cameco has clearly been put on notice that it has to do better.


Uranium drilling fight gets hot

Natives warn of threat to Ottawa's water as company looks to court to end blockade

Suzanne Ma, The Ottawa Citizen

30th July 2007

A month-long standoff between two Algonquin communities in Eastern Ontario and a uranium prospecting company will be moving from a make-shift blockade near Sharbot Lake to a Kingston courtroom today, after the Ardoch Lake and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations were served with a $75-million lawsuit last week.

In late June, the two communities had joined forces to prevent Frontenac Ventures from drilling for uranium core samples on disputed land. Since then, all have been embroiled in what has been, so far, a test of nerves. Each side has accused the other of using intimidation tactics. The Algonquins allege the big-ticket lawsuit is Frontenac's latest "stunt."

The company has staked more than 5,000 hectares and was about to start drilling when the Algonquins and their supporters blocked them from accessing the land. They set up a gated base camp near Sharbot Lake, about 50 kilometres north of Kingston, and put up signs and flags, parked a couple of trailers and pitched tents. A handful of people have remained on-site 24 hours a day since June 28, and a number of volunteers guard the perimeter of the staked land.

The Algonquins say the land belongs to them -- most Ardoch Lake and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations are non-status Indians, meaning they never signed a treaty to extinguish their land rights in exchange for reserves and services -- and they're upset the province didn't consult them before giving Frontenac Ventures permission to explore for uranium.

The Algonquins and their supporters say they're worried that exploration and mining will contaminate their lands and water with radioactive waste. The waterways, they point out, are connected to the Ottawa River and could affect the drinking water in the nation's capital.

Frontenac's lawyer, Neal Smitheman, said he will be seeking an injunction to have the blockade removed while working on getting Frontenac access to its mining claims, which were approved by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines.

"If we don't get something resolved soon, it could put the company out of business," Mr. Smitheman said. "When you do things like this, when you occupy and prevent access to people from doing what they have a lawful right to do, they can have serious ramifications."

Paula Sherman, co-chief of the Ardoch Lake First Nations, said the lawsuit has only strengthened her people's resolve.

"We're not leaving until there's a moratorium on uranium mining," said Ms. Sherman, who has been living in a trailer at the base camp.

"We will never allow them to have entry. It's our land. We have a responsibility to take care of the land for future generations."

The apparent confusion over land ownership comes at a time when several Algonquin communities in Ontario are engaged in land-claim negotiations with the provincial government. Frontenac's staked land is just part of a vast territory in dispute, stretching from Algonquin Park all the way to the front lawn of Parliament Hill.

The Ardoch Lake and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations only recently discovered Frontenac Ventures was on the land when an area resident showed up at an Ardoch Lake council meeting a few months ago.

Frank Morrison, who owns 100 hectares of pristine streams, meadows and trees in North Frontenac, found out last November that his land had been prospected for uranium.

His story was featured in the Citizen earlier this month, where he described coming across scarred trees and stumps bearing metal tags with the Ontario trillium symbol. Mr. Morrison started doing some of his own digging, and found a 139-year-old piece of Ontario legislation that allowed mining prospectors "free entry" to his property. He also learned he didn't own the "mineral rights" to his land, so while he owned the surface of the land, he did not own what was buried beneath. And, he found out who the prospector was: Frontenac Ventures.

"Frank came in and said all of his land had been dug up," Ms. Sherman said.

"We began to check it out and discovered roads had been dug out and trees had been cleared."

Algonquin representatives confirmed with the ministry that a chunk of their land had indeed been staked by Frontenac Ventures. First came disbelief. Then anger. And, as word spread throughout the community, non-natives joined in the fight. This week, Dawn King drove to the base camp from near Perth, bringing food and supplies.

"It's a human issue. It's not a native issue. It will affect us all," said Ms. King after unloading a carload of donations from the community, including toilet paper, homemade salsa, bread, eggs and cheese.

Earl Recoskie, a 56-year-old retiree, moved to the area six months ago, drawn to North Frontenac's beautiful lakes and marshes. He wasn't happy when he found out Frontenac Ventures was planning to dig for uranium. He now visits the blockade every day.

"It's disastrous, as far as I'm concerned," he said, resting under the shade of a tent. "We find out a uranium mine could very well be in our backyard. For our sakes and the First Nations' sakes, we are going to do everything we can to try and stop it."

But while much frustration lies with Frontenac, Mr. Recoskie and Ms. King said they were disappointed with the province's inaction.

"You can say what you want about ... any business. They're going to try to do what they're going to do to make money. But the government has the responsibility to do what's right," Mr. Recoskie said.

That's one thing that the Algonquins and Frontenac Ventures can agree on: that the Ontario government granted permits to the company. They gave the go-ahead without saying a word; not a word to Frontenac about the potential conflicts they could face with the local Algonquins, and not a word to the Algonquins, who only learned of the drilling plans when Mr. Morrison tipped them off.

"We do have an obligation to consult First Nations," allowed Laura Blondeau, press secretary for Rick Bartolucci, minister of northern development and mines. But did the ministry consult the Ardoch Lake and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations before Frontenac moved in?

"I cannot confirm this," said Ms. Blondeau, who could only say that the ministry was continuing "to establish better processes" when dealing with such matters. Randy Cota, co-chief of the Ardoch Lake First Nations, said many people in the community are fed up.

"We're used to this, (First Nations) have been burned so many times," he said. "The government asks, 'Why can't you trust us?' When (throughout) all of our Canadian history, can you tell me one time when we ever got a fair shake?"

Mr. Smitheman said the public has been misinformed about Frontenac Ventures' plans. "Frontenac Ventures is really a prospector rather than a mining company," he said. "They are trying to gather samples to see if it's a feasible mining site. They want to drill some holes and get some samples. It's no different for someone to drill a hole for water in that area."

But Mr. Cota said there would be no drilling of any kind on the disputed land.

"It's our homeland, we have no place else in the world for the Algonquin people to call home," he said. "We have a responsibility to the land, to respect her and not abuse her. It's time for us to step up to the plate."


Candidates express broad agreement over mining issues

by Jeff Green, Frontenac News

26th July 2007

The Liberal, Conservative, and NDP candidates for the upcoming provincial election in the Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington riding, participated in a forum sponsored by the Bedford Mining Alert (BMA) on July 21 at the Bedford Hall.

The Green Party, which has yet to select a provincial candidate, sent their federal candidate, Chris Walker.

Prior to the meeting, the Bedford Mining Alert had provided each of the candidates with background information about issues related to prospecting on private lands, and the candidates answered a series of questions from BMA member Justin Connidis

The four candidates all agreed on a major issue that has been championed by the Bedford Mining Alert for years - they favoured the uniting of surface and subsurface rights, at least in Eastern Ontario.

Throughout Ontario, a small percentage of landowners do not own the subsurface rights to their property, and these properties are available for staking by prospectors. Prospectors are exempt from normal trespass laws in pursuing their interests on these lands, and they are allowed to clear brush, cut trees, and do trenching on the properties without the consent of the landowners.

Ian Wilson, the Liberal candidate, pointed to proposed legislation that has just been posted for review, legislation that would see changes to how the Mining Act is implemented in the future. (see "A way forward or half a loaf?") The changes do not include uniting surface and subsurface rights, however. Wilson was willing to go further, "I do support uniting surface and subsurface rights in Eastern Ontario," he said.

Although Randy Hillier said, "Surface and subsurface rights must be united", he also posed the issue against the context of the broader agenda of property rights, which he champions.

Chris Walker, from the Green Party, posed the issue in terms of sustainable growth, seeing the drive to extract resources as a symptom of an economy that is causing a host of environmental problems.

He also pointed out that he has researched the Conservative party policy on the Mining Act, and reported that he was told there are no plans to change the mining act.

"That could change," Randy Hiller responded.

"The key issue is not uniting surface and subsurface rights, which I do support" said Ross Sutherland from the NDP, "it is broader than that. There should also be more controls on exploration on Crown lands, and Natives need to be consulted when their lands are being affected."

Before the discussion concerning surface and sub-surface rights got underway, Frank Morrison and John Kittle made presentations. Frank Morrison told the kind of story that is familiar to Bedford Mining Alert members: that of finding his land disturbed and stakes in the ground, and through research realising that prospectors have extensive rights on his land.

In his case, however, it was not a graphite or wollastonite deposit that is being explored, as is common on Bedford. Morrison lives in North Frontenac Township, and the company that has staked his property is Frontenac Ventures Corporation.

John Kittle spoke specifically about uranium and the consequences of uranium mining and exploration.

The candidates were not asked directly about their response to the uranium exploration in North and Central Frontenac until the tail end of the meeting, when the public had their chance to ask questions.

Norm Guntensperger asked them if they support the activities of the Algonquin protesters who have occupied the site where Frontenac Ventures had been located.

Both Randy Hiller and Ian Wilson said they do not support the Algonquins, and Chris Walker and Ross Sutherland said they did.

However, all four candidates said they support a moratorium on uranium exploration in the case.

Although they oppose the occupation, both Ian Wilson and Randy Hiller said they did not favour a heavy-handed approach to the occupation by police or government officials.

"Confrontation does not serve anyone's interest," Wilson said.


Frontenac Ventures initiates lawsuits against Algonquins at mine site

by Jeff Green, Frontenac News

26th July 2007

Frontenac Ventures Corporation has initiated legal proceedings against the Shabot Obaadjiwaan First Nation, the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, and the leadership of the two communities: Doreen Davis, Paula Sherman, Randy Cota, Bob Lovelace, and Harold Perry.

The Ardoch and Sharbot Lake communities have occupied the Robertsville mine for the past four weeks. Frontenac Ventures has leased space at the mine site as a base camp for exploring a 30,000-acre swath of land for uranium content in the hopes of finding an "economic deposit", in the words of company President George White.

Company lawyer Neil Smitheman said the lawsuit names the First Nations and their leadership because they have been blocking the company from pursuing its business interests. "We need to have this dealt with fast," Smitheman said. Frontenac Ventures is scheduled to complete a deal, described by Gorge White as a "reverse takeover" with Sylvio Ventures of Vancouver on July 31. The deal could lead to the company achieving a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange later this year. There is no word on how the occupation of the Robertsville mine will affect these dealings.

The suit is scheduled to be heard in Kingston Court on July 30, at which time Frontenac Ventures will be seeking a court injunction to remove the Shabot Obaadjiwaan and Ardoch Algonquins from the Robertsville mine. The federal and provincial governments and the Ontario Provincial Police were served papers as well, although they were not named in the lawsuit.

"They were served," Smitheman said, "because they will be expected to act if there is a court injunction."

Smitheman said that the July 30 court date was the first available date in Kingston.

For their part, the Algonquin leadership refused to acknowledge the legal papers when they were served on Monday July 23.

In other news in this ongoing situation, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs David Ramsay said last week that he will not intervene in the matter, leaving it to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines to deal with.

An anti-uranium information picket is planned for Saturday, July 28, in the Town of Perth along Highway 7. Cars will be slowed in both directions to allow for information to be passed, but the road will not be closed.


A way forward, or half a loaf?

by Jeff Green, Frontenac News

26th July 2007

As Bedford Mining Alert members grilled provincial politicians on the mining act in the Bedford hall last week, Peter Griesbach sat silently at the back of the room.

It's not that Peter Griesbach is indifferent to the mining act. Since 2002 he has been a member of the Minister's Mining Act Advisory Committee (MMAAC) and is chair of a subcommittee of MMAAC that has prepared an amendment to the mining act. The amendment has just been posted for comment on the government's Environmental Registry.

The amended act would not unite surface and subsurface rights, nor would it allow surface rights owners to purchase the subsurface rights to their property, but it would increase the amount of land that is exempt from staking, and would also require more and fuller notification to surface rights owners before a prospector can enter their property.

Peter Griesbach got involved in mining rights in the same way many other people do - he found that someone had entered his property and cut down trees. He phoned the OPP to report a trespass, and was eventually referred to the Ministry of Northern Development of Mines, who informed him that his property had been staked.

"I never thought that unifying surface and sub-surface was do-able, and it was never on the table as we worked through changes to the sections of the mining act that dealing with staking on private property," Griesbach said.

Although he has been chairing the subcommittee that prepared the proposed amendments to the act, he is the only member of the community that is not either a ministry employee or a representative of mining or prospecting interests.

"This has not been a problem," he said, "because everyone had an interest in establishing rules that would not lead to conflicts in the field. The clearer the rules, the easier it will be for everyone."

Among proposed changes that affect Southern Ontario is the elimination of the physical staking of claims. Claims will be staked through interment mapping, thus eliminating the first instance of potential conflict with landowners. The prospector staking a claim will then have 60 days to notify the surface rights owner. As well, 30 days' notification will be required before a prospector can enter the surface rights owner's property, and the specific work plans will have to be given.

It is also proposed that the prospecting company will be required to repair any damages to surface lands that is caused by their activities.

Lots that are one hectare or less will be exempt from staking, as will a one-hectare ring around a residence on lots that are larger than one hectare.

Certain other kinds of property will be exempt from staking as well, if the amendment goes through, including: subdivisions, residential and cottage lots, railway lands, cropping and other farm operations, municipal lands such as parks, etc., and managed woodlots.

The proposed changes are described at a link from

http://www.eco.on.ca/english/others/regpost.htm.


Get off my land

Editorial by Jeff Green, Frontenac News

26th July 2007

In a telling scene during Fiddler on the Roof, a Cossack Inspector who has taken a liking to Tevye the milkman, comes to tell him that on the following day he will be forced to leave his home, and his village.

As Tevye contemplates his own powerlessness in the face of government forces, he reacts in the only way he knows,

"Get off my land,"
he says, "
This is still my land, get off my land."

Peter Jorgensen, the part owner and manager of the Robertsville mine, might understand Tevye's reaction, as might Frank and Gloria Morrison, as do First Nations peoples throughout North America, as does George White of Frontenac Ventures Corporation.

Peter Jorgensen has been told that he faces arrest if he so much as approaches his property; Frank and Gloria Morrison have had their property altered by prospectors; First Nations peoples were herded into reserves or left to drift away from their traditional lands about 200 years ago; and George White cannot access property that he has leased or conduct exploration land on property that he has legally staked, again under threat of arrest.

What we have here is a conjunction of cases where the supposed rights of individuals are coming into conflict with the rights of the collective, and these conflicts are not easily resolved.

Peter Jorgensen is clearly on the losing end thus far. He cannot access a property that he holds a legal deed to.

The Algonquins who are preventing him from accessing the property are not doing so for financial gain. They are asserting their aboriginal rights in the name of the collective good, the preservation of the land against what they perceive as a dire threat of contamination through uranium exploration and mining.

Not only do they have nothing to gain financially from this, they are now facing a $77 million lawsuit for their trouble. But as altruistic as the Algonquins' goals may be, their assertion of collective rights impinge directly on Peter Jorgensen's individual rights.

Many members of the Frontenac and Lanark communities fear for their own well being, the well being of their land and their families, if a uranium mine is built. This fear is akin to the fear expressed by the Algonquins, who say that if the land is gone they are gone as a people.

The provincial government is perhaps more concerned that the lights will go out across the province if uranium mining is curtailed. So, whose interests are more important? Thousands of Eastern Ontarians and a tiny native community, or ten million people who expect the power to flow to their own houses?

The government has the right to expropriate the lands of private individuals for airports or roads, so why not for greenhouse-free power?

In the end we are all like Tevye, and Peter Jorgensen. We might own our land today, but that could change.


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