CPTnet
15 September 2007
TORONTO: Peacemaker Congress public witness 21 September 2007 will support
Native land rights

[Note: For more information on Christian Peacemaker Congress IX: "Tearing
Down Walls, Restoring Communities," September 20-23 2007, Toronto, Ontario,
see http://www.cpt.org/congress/congressIX.php. Contact CPT's Toronto
office to register for the Congress: Tel: 416-423-5525;
guest.996427@MennoLink.org]

On 21 September 2007, less than three weeks before the Ontario provincial
election, Christian Peacemaker Teams and Rainforest Action Network are
sponsoring a public witness in front of the provincial legislature in
Toronto, Canada, calling for the new government to honour native land rights
in Ontario.

The scheduled event is part of CPT's Peacemaker Congress IX: "Tearing Down
Walls, Restoring Communities." This gathering in Toronto will incorporate
worship, workshops, and prophetic public witness around the power of
nonviolence to tear down walls and restore communities broken by violence.

Speaking at the public witness event are Clan Mother Judy Da Silva, First
Nations of Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows); Co-Chief Paula Sherman,
Ardoch Algonquin; and Spokesperson John Cutfeet, Kitchenuhmaykoosib
Inninuwug (KI.)

Over 200 Congress participants and local activists will piece together a
giant aerial art banner that will be photographed from a helicopter. In
addition, participants will issue a challenge to the candidates of each of
the 107 electoral districts in Ontario to form a government that will
negotiate in good faith with First Nations.

Peacemaker Congress participants will hear more at a preceding plenary talk
by Judy Da Silva on Friday, 21 September at 9:30 A.M. in the Steelworkers
Hall, 25 Cecil Street, Toronto.

BACKGROUND ON THE THREE COMMUNITIES

After enduring years of abuse, including residential schools, hydro damming
of their river, and widespread mercury poisoning from a paper mill upstream,
the people of Grassy Narrows dealt with clearcut logging of their
traditional territories by erecting a blockade in December 2002.
Unfortunately, while this blockade continues--the longest standing
indigenous logging blockade in Canadian history--so does the clearcut
logging. Lumber companies gain access to traditional territories via other
routes. In February 2007, Grassy Narrows leaders formally declared a
moratorium barring all industry on their traditional territory without
community consent. They are calling on Ontarians to support them as they
seek justice for their community and respect for the Boreal Forest they
depend on. For more information see http://www.freegrassy.org, Watch the
video "As Long as the Rivers Flow: The Story of Grassy Narrows", at
http://tinyurl.com/3ykl89

Ardoch and Shabot Obadjiwaan First Nations erected a blockade on 28 June
2007 to stop Frontenac Ventures from continuing its uranium mining
exploration on their land without consultation. Frontenac obtained an
injunction on 27 August from the Ontario Superior Court "restraining any
person who has notice of the order from interfering with, disrupting or
hindering, directly or indirectly" Frontenac's access to the site. The
injunction was formally served on 31 August. Ardoch and Shabot maintain
their vigilance preventing access, and are receiving fierce support from
local non-Aboriginals opposed to uranium exploration. CPT set up a team on
site on 3 September 2007. For more information, go to the Ardoch website:
http://www.aafna.ca/.

Despite the moratorium declared by KI on resource extraction, and Supreme
Court rulings to consult and accommodate, the Government of Ontario, in
February 2006, granted permission for Platinex Inc. to drill in
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) territory. KI brought a constitutional
challenge to the Ontario Mining Act in June 2006, claiming the Act fails to
prioritize Aboriginal and Treaty rights. The next month, the Ontario
Superior Court issued an injunction halting Platinex from drilling until the
company and the Province of Ontario fulfilled obligations to consult with
the First Nation community. In May 2007, Justice Smith decided to halt the
injunction and allow Platinex onto the land after it had completed a
consultation protocol with the community. Justice Smith clearly reserved the
right to stop the drilling project at any time, making the case for
comprehensive land-use planning before development. Even Ontario Aboriginal
Affairs Minister David Ramsay says, "The larger issue in regard to the
relationship between the Mining Act with Aboriginal rights has yet to be
determined." For more information, see http://tinyurl.com/2wdnyn .