CPTnet
20 September 2007
 ROBERTSVILLE, ON: Who is really on trial here?

by Bob Holmes

Harold Perry, honorary chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First nation (AAFN)
arrived at the court in Kingston, Ontario on 18 September. He expected to be
arrested--something he welcomed because it would bring to a head the
on-going conflict of the Algonquins with Frontenac Ventures and the
provincial government of Ontario. The government has issued a uranium
exploration permit on traditional Algonquin lands to Frontenac Ventures,
violating Algonquin law.

On 28 June 2007, the AAFN, together with the Shabot Obaajiwan First Nation,
closed the gate at the entrance of the road used for uranium exploration.
The Algonquins occupied the area inside the gate and, in support,
non-aboriginal Canadians from the area, who referred to themselves as
"settlers," set up a tent city outside the gate.

On 31 August, a local sheriff read aloud in front of the gate a court
injunction--obtained by Frontenac Ventures--against the gate closing. No
one there heard it, because native drummers and settler singers drowned out
the sheriff's voice. Since then, people on both sides of the gate have
feared police enforcement of the injunction in spite of the frequent
presence of unarmed, plain-clothed Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)--liaison
officers pursuing a negotiated settlement to the impasse. The OPP liaison
projects are a direct result of the Ipperwash Inquiry into the death of a
native person, Dudley George, during another such occupation.

At court, OPP officers named names of those they had observed inside the
gate since the injunction was read. Harold was amongst them. However, when
Frontenac Ventures subpoenaed one of the liaison officers and asked him to
name those he had observed inside the gate, he said, "my role was one of
mediation, not intelligence gathering, and I made no notes of who was or was
not inside the gate." Robert Lovelace, a former AAFN chief, speaking at the
end of the hearing, said, "The fact that a liaison officer can be required
to testify in court greatly undermines the credibility of these new OPP
initiatives.

Over the lunch break, Harold and other Algonquins present asked their
lawyers to tell the court that they were indeed inside the gate and urge a
speedy move towards a court trial where they could argue for the justice of
their actions. CPTer David Milne added his name to the list and the lawyers
for Frontenac Ventures insisted that another settler instrumental in
beginning the resistance to uranium mining have his name added as well. The
judge accepted the request and set 24 September as the day to set the date
for trial.

So who is really on trial--the Aboriginals and their supporters resisting
the ravages of uranium mining or the federal and provincial governments
careless enough to issue permits on lands in the midst of treaty claims?

Let us pray that the new judge will preside over a court of justice rather
than a court of law--since the laws of Ontario are not in accord with a just
stance towards our Aboriginal sisters and brothers.