What's missing in Mining Act changes? The Right to Say NO TORONTO, May 25 /CNW/

[Steev]

What's missing in Mining Act changes? The Right to Say NO
Proposed amendments do little to prevent conflicts
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2009/25/c6844.html

TORONTO, May 25 /CNW/ - In response to proposed changes to
Ontario's
Mining Act, Mushkegowuk Council, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and
Ardoch
Algonquin First Nation call on the province to respect the right of
First
Nations to say NO to all aspects of mining from prospecting to
exploration to
full mine development in their traditional territories. The First
Nations
clarify that the Ontario government must respect and adhere to
Constitutional
duty of consultation and accommodation and the internationally
recognized
right of free prior and informed consent. This has not been addressed
by the
proposed changes Minister Gravelle introduced on April 30, 2009.
"The Supreme Court of Canada has said that consultation and
accommodation
have to be meaningful. How can they be meaningful if we don't have the
right
to say NO to mining that will impact our lives and culture?" says
Grand Chief
Stan Louttit of the Mushkegowuk Council. The Mushkegowuk Council is
comprised
of seven communities including Attawapiskat, Fort Albany, Kashechewan,
Moose
Cree, New Post, Chapleau Cree and Missanabie Cree. Their homelands
cover a
vast area in and around James Bay of the Boreal Forest.
Changes to the Act were prompted in part by ongoing conflicts
between
mineral exploration companies and First Nations that resulted in the
incarceration of Bob Lovelace and KI Six last year. "These amendments
will not
resolve the KI Platinex conflict. Further conflict is all but
inevitable,"
says Sam McKay, Councillor and Spokesperson for Kitchenuhmaykoosib
Inninuwug
(KI). Mr. McKay was one of KI Six who spent 68 days in jail.
"The proposed changes to the Mining Act are smoke and mirrors,"
says
Mireille Lapointe, Co-Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation.
"They are
meant to placate and silence dissent. Consultation without the right
to say NO
is meaningless and a cynical exercise," adds Chief Lapointe. Bob
Lovelace of
the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation spent 101 days in jail for saying NO
to
uranium exploration.
The call for respect for free, prior and informed consent is
widely
supported including by seven public interest groups: CPAWS Wildlands
League,
Ecojustice Canada, Mining Watch Canada, Ontario Nature, Amnesty
International
Canada, Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada and Community Coalition
Against
Mining Uranium.




For further information: Grand Chief Stan Louttit, Mushkegowuk
Council,
mobile (705) 288-0157; Co-Chief Mireille LaPointe, Ardoch Algonquin
First
Nation, (613) 273-3530; Councillor Sam McKay, Kitchenuhmaykoosib
Inninuwug,
(807) 537-2263 and mobile (807) 629-7266; Anna Baggio, CPAWS Wildlands
League,
mobile (416) 453-3285; Ramsey Hart, Mining Watch Canada, (613)
614-9937