Ontario First Nation leaders rally in Toronto for KI-6 political prisoners as Ontario gives more mining permits
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Hampton condemns new mining claims for Platinex
Queen's Park - April 22, 2008 - NDP Leader Howard Hampton condemned the McGuinty Liberals for awarding Platinex Inc. 72,000 acres of new mining claims in Northern Ontario.
"It's outrageous that the McGuinty Liberals awarded Platinex new mining rights to 72,000 acres of land while leaders from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) continue to languish in jail," said Hampton. Platinex is the exploration company that sued KI First Nation for $10 billion dollars, nearly bankrupting the First Nation, and causing Chief Donny Morris and five KI councillors to go to jail for standing up for their constitutional rights.
"These new Platinex claims are adjacent to Webequie First Nation, Marten Falls First Nation, Fort Hope First Nation, Neskantaga First Nation and Gull Bay First Nation," Hampton said.
Hampton said this sends a chilling message to First Nations across the North.
"On one hand, First Nations leaders are jailed because they demand their constitutional right to be consulted and accommodated before potential environmental damage happens to their lands while on the other hand, Platinex is awarded extensive new mining rights after suing KI for $10-billion and nearly bankrupting the community in the process," said Hampton.
"Is this the message the McGuinty government wants to send to First Nations: if you stand up and ask for your constitutional rights to be recognized you could go to jail while the mining company gets mining rights to your land?" asked Hampton.
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Barricades come down at aboriginal protest in eastern Ontario
CHINTA PUXLEY - The Canadian Press - April 22, 2008
TORONTO — A blockade erected by Mohawk protesters in eastern Ontario has come down.
About 200 provincial police officers arrived at the barricade on the main road through Deseronto at about 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday.
There was a verbal confrontation between officers and protesters, but no one was arrested.
The protesters put up the blockade Sunday night to protest a land dispute with a Kingston-based developer.
The protesters are still at the development in question and a nearby quarry they have occupied since last March.
Critics say the Liberal government has encouraged such protests across the province by allowing the Six Nations occupation in Caledonia to continue for more than two years.
But Premier Dalton McGuinty said the best way to resolve the land dispute is through negotiation.
“This has now become an issue of real concern to our police,” he said.
“There are safety issues and we're always concerned about what might happen when it comes to that. People get anxious.”
About 75 Mohawk protesters shut down the road in Deseronto to protest a land dispute with Nibourg Developments, which said it would begin to clear brush Monday on property it owns in the town southwest of Napanee.
The disputed land is part of a claim accepted by the federal government for negotiation in 2003.
Developer Emile Nibourg declined to be interviewed but referred to a statement issued by his company calling on the federal and provincial governments to resolve the dispute. Their inaction “is leading to unrest between the natives and non-natives, putting all people at great risk,” the firm said.
But Mr. McGuinty said there are better ways to resolve outstanding land disputes.
“We have worked really hard as a government to pursue a new direction when it comes to our relationship with our aboriginal communities,” Mr. McGuinty said.
“In terms of speaking out to our First Nations communities, they know how to deal with us. It's at the table and we can get things done.”
Conservative Lisa MacLeod said the Liberals have set the tone by allowing the Six Nations occupation of a former housing development site in Caledonia to drag on for more than two years while negotiations continue.
Until the province decides to enforce the law, or at least refuses to negotiate until the occupations end, MacLeod said there will be more road blockades.
“There is no question that the lack of action on behalf of the McGuinty Liberals has caused a real crisis in the confidence of their government,” she said.
“Until they actually start to enforce one rule for all Ontarians, we're going to see disruptions right across Ontario.”
Deseronto has been the target of past aboriginal protests.
A group of Tyendinaga Mohawks shut down Highway 401 for 11 hours and blockaded the Montreal-Toronto rail corridor for the aboriginal national day of action last June.
A similar blockade of the same busy rail line lasted 30 hours last April, ending peacefully after a night of negotiations with provincial police and other officials.
New Democrat Michael Prue said the Liberals are partly to blame for these constant protests. The province hasn't addressed the concerns of aboriginal people by helping them expedite their land claims or by sharing Ontario's great wealth, Mr. Prue said.
“We have treated our aboriginal peoples abysmally for the last 150 years,” he said. “We need to deal with them in a mature, nation-to-nation way that we've not done in the past. I would like the government to live up to its obligations.”
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