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The following e-mail appealing for funds for the Queen's Park camp organizing committee; the Canadian Press article concerning Chief's Donnie Morris' position on Ontario's free entry for mining law; and the press release concerning the letter to Ontario from Robert Kennedy, Jr, indicate growing support for First Nations and the May 29 National Day of Action where all Canadians can come together to demand equal treatment for First Nations across this country.

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Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2008

From: Alana Kapell [mailto:akapell@northsouthpartnership.com]

Subject: RE: Support Needed: KI 6 expenses

Dear all,  Please see the message below from Judy Finlay:
 
Hi Everyone;

The rally/sleepover committee raised over $75000 for this week’s events. We expect over 1500 to attend and many people are coming from the far north.

We are organizing accommodation and food for all those sleeping over(300).

However, we didn't anticipate the release of the KI 6 and feel that they should be accommodated the same as our speakers which is at a hotel not in a tent or on a mattress in a hall.

All of the organizers (30 or so) believe that this has become a movement as large or larger than the women's movement. It has joined the environment, indigenous  (land and treaty rights), poverty and social justice movements together in solidarity. There are probably 8 people who have been working fulltime on the rally/sleepover from across Ontario, Canada and the US with many other volunteers.

This was sparked by Chief Donnie's courageous actions. A number of us met with Donnie, Jack, Darrell, Sam, and Bruce at the correctional facility last Thursday and their wisdom about the bigger picture was prophetic. It is an honour to be working on this weeks events. 
 
We have not raised the monies for the accommodation for these people and their families. They are in transit now and arrive tomorrow.

I believe that it is important that the Partnership show their support as Alana has indicated. We have played an important role in the lives of these people and need to continue to do so in small and larger ways. That is after all what the Partnership is about.

Please try to contribute in any way that you can. I hope to see you there on Monday.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Judy
 
________________________________________

From: Alana Kapell
Subject: Support Needed: KI 6 expenses
 
Dear all,

As you may be aware, the KI 6 were released yesterday from the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre, pending an appeal this coming Wednesday, May 28.

They will arrive in Toronto on Sunday (the 24th) to attend the Queen’s Park rally and their appeal on the 28th (see details below)

We require funds to cover their expenses while in Toronto and hope to raise approx. $3000 in the next couple of days.

If you are able to help:

• please send me an e-mail indicating the amount you are able to give
   
• make your check payable to: Tikinagan Child and Family Services (North-South Partnership for Children)
   
• Mail to: Finance Department

  Tikinagan Child and Family Services
  P.O. Box 627, 63 King Street
  Sioux Lookout, Ontario
  P8T 1B1
  - **please include a note: for KI 6 expenses

Thank you so much and we hope to see you at the rally on Monday.

Meegwetch.

Alana Kapell
Mamow Sha-way-gi-kay-win
North-South Partnership for Children
500 Hood Road, Suite 200
Markham, Ontario, L3R 9Z3
Phone: 905 944 7087
Fax: 905 474 1448
akapell@northsouthpartnership.com
 
www.northsouthpartnership.com 

GATHERING OF MOTHER EARTH PROTECTORS

DATE: Monday, May 26, 2008, 5 p.m. until dusk
PLACE: Queen's Park

INFO: http://gatheringofmotherearthprotectors.blogspot.com/, michelle.langlois@ryerson.ca

Join us for a rally at Queen's Park from 5 p.m. until dusk, with MCs Thomas King and Cathy Jones, and many other special guests and musicians.

Support the right of First Nation communities to say NO to mining and forestry on their lands.  No jail for saying NO.  Free Bob Lovelace and the KI Six.

This is an event of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI First Nation), Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, and Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation). 

Supporters: The Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples, CAIA, Canadian Federation of Students, Canadian Labour Congress, Christian Peacemaker Teams, CAW Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy – Ryerson University, CPAWS Wildlands League, CUPE Ontario, Defence for Children International, ForestEthics, Greenpeace, Mining Watch Canada, No One is Illegal Toronto, NOW Magazine, OCAP, OPSEU, OSSTF, Rainforest Action Network, Ryerson Aboriginal Students Services.

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From the Canadian Press

Aboriginal chief vows to return to jail if Ont., doesn't negotiate on Mining Act

May 25, 2008

TORONTO — The chief of a northern Ontario aboriginal community who was incarcerated along with five other leaders in a dispute with a mining exploration company said he's prepared to return to jail if the province doesn't come to the table and review the Mining Act.

Happy to be home on Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation land after winning a temporary release from jail Friday, Chief Donny Morris told The Canadian Press he'll have no choice but to continue protesting if the province allows Platinex Inc., to drill on his community's traditional territory, about 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont.

"I have to uphold the community membership's mandate and at the moment they don't want any drilling or development of that sort," he said.

"We're willing to take that risk. When you're backed up into a corner with your last hope trying to preserve your territory, you don't have much of a choice."

Disobeying an injunction that prohibited him from interfering with the company's work is what landed Morris and his colleagues in jail in the first place. They were granted the temporary reprieve after they agreed to abide by the injunction - a decision made only after Platinex promised not to bring an exploration crew onto the disputed land before 9 a.m. Thursday.

The group dubbed the KI 6 is due back in court Wednesday where they are appealing their six-month sentence for contempt of court. The Ontario Appeals Court could decide they've served enough time and release them or send them back to jail to serve out the remainder of their sentence.

After more than two months of confinement, rubbing shoulders with criminals and being told when to eat and sleep, Morris said he is trying to adjust to the "wide open spaces" he's used to.

He said the group is in good spirits and were welcomed home with a big party Saturday night at the community hall.

"I'm trying to adjust to my old lifestyle but I'm having difficulty," he said.

"It was very difficult being institutionalized."

The brief reprieve gives the group, which includes deputy KI chief Jack McKay and members Sam McKay, Darryl Sainnawap, Cecilia Begg and Bruce Sakakeep, a chance to join supporters at the Ontario legislature Monday for a multi-day rally aimed at pressing the Liberal government to allow First Nations to say no to mining and forestry on their lands.

"The government, they have mouthed all the right words," event organizer Jack Lapointe of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation said.

"They make these public statements about how they are meeting behind closed doors with us and how they stand shoulder-to-shoulder with First Nations but it's all B.S."

The government has said it's committed to changing Ontario's 100-year-old mining laws to include proper consultation with First Nations but it will take time.

Still, Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said last month the government was not prepared to heed calls for a moratorium that would stop mining companies from staking claims on Crown land in the interim.

"I can't figure out Ontario. There's a lot of public support and public criticism going their way and what is it going to take for them to acknowledge our leadership, that we want to play a role in our future too," Morris said.

"For them to say they're supporting us. OK, prove it...Give us that opportunity where we sit side by side...and let's hammer out a new arrangement how mining industries should operate in our last pocket of environment that's clean."

Participants were going to use the event to call for the release of the KI 6 prior to the unprecedented turn of events Friday but will still be speaking out in support of Bob Lovelace of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation in eastern Ontario, who remains in solitary confinement on a hunger strike for a similar breach.

Protesters, which will include members of KI, Ardoch, as well as Grassy Narrows First Nation, will remain on the front lawn of the legislature conducting traditional aboriginal ceremonies until May 29 - the national aboriginal day of action and possibly the day the KI 6 are required to turn themselves in to the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre.

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Press Release from the Woodlands League

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Questions Premier McGuinty over Outdated Mining Law and Jailed First Nations' Leaders

    TORONTO, May 23 /CNW/ - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent Ontario Premier McGuinty a tersely worded letter in which he asks that the Premier reform Ontario's outdated mining rules and do whatever possible to halt ongoing drilling on traditional lands of jailed First Nations' leaders. Mr. Kennedy states that, "It is appalling that this could happen to Aboriginal leaders in Ontario who are standing up for their people and their traditional lands in the face of antiquated and unjust mining laws." His letter elevates the high profile controversy over the need for mining reform to an international level.

    Premier McGuinty responded to a similar letter from twenty high profile Canadians late last month by claiming the "work is already under way" on a commitment to review the Mining Act, supporting an "expedited appeal" for the jailed First Nations' leaders, and citing the "need to modernize the (Mining) act so that it is in keeping with our values and expectations at the beginning of the 21st century."

    But First Nations and conservation activists close to the issue say that no apparent action has been taken. "Premier McGuinty has been beseeched by the conservation community, well respected Canadians, Amnesty International, and the clergy to reform the mining law, protect the Boreal Forest, and respect Aboriginal rights. But, despite several statements, no action has been taken to date," noted Anna Baggio of the CPAWS Wildlands League. "The world expects better of Canada," added Susan Casey-Lefkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, DC, "This issue is escalating to an international embarrassment while the First Nations' leaders continue to sit in jail." Mr. Kennedy is an attorney with her organization.

    Six members of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) and Robert Lovelace of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation are currently serving extended jail sentences for peacefully opposing mineral exploration on their lands. Mr. Lovelace began a hunger strike last week after serving three months of his six month sentence and is now in solitary confinement.

    This is the second time Mr. Kennedy has weighed in on behalf of the KI. He wrote a letter of support in June 2006 after several members of the band walked 1,200 miles from their lands in Northern Ontario to Ottawa to bring attention to the lack of consultation by the province. Mr. Kennedy has worked on environmental issues across the Americas and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands.

    Mr. Kennedy's letter will be read at a rally planned for Monday, May 26th at 5 pm in Queens' Park, Toronto.

    For a copy of the letter, please visit www.wildlandsleague.org

For further information: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., (914) 422-4343; Anna Baggio, CPAWS Wildlands League, (416) 453-3285, anna@wildlandsleague.org; Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Natural Resources Defense Council, (646) 287-6225, sclefkowitz@nrdc.org