Canada Uranium update
Published by MAC on 2007-08-16
Canada Uranium update
16th August 2007
Defiance greets interim injunction
Algonquin's vow to remain at Robertsville: Judge calls for meeting on Thursday
16th August 2007
Frontena Country, Ontario, Canada
Members of the Shabot Obaadjiwaan and Ardoch Algonquin First Nations kept their camp in place last week as a court imposed deadline for them to leave the Robertsville mine site came and went.
Late on Wednesday, afternoon, Judge Thomson of the Kingston Superior Court delivered an interim ruling to lawyers for the Algonquin First Nations and Frontenac Ventures Corporation concerning access to the site and to 30,000 acres of land where the company had been carrying out uranium exploration until the Alonquins began an occupation on June 28.
The judge ruled that the camp be shut down within 48 hours, and that neither side attempt to enter the mine site or any of the 30,000 acre property until after a full hearing on the matter could be concluded. The hearing had been scheduled to start on September 20.
The Shabot Obaadjiwaan and Ardoch Algonquins both communicated to OPP officials that they had no intention of leaving the site, and when 48 hours passed Frontenac Ventures Corporation communicated with Judge Thomson, pressing for action on his part as soon as possible this week.
The judge ordered all the lawyers to a meeting in his chambers on Thursday.
Even before the ruling came down on Wednesday afternoon, the Algonquin First Nations had indicated, in a letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty, that they will no longer participate in court proceedings regarding the injunction, citing the Ipperwash Inquiry findings that the courtroom is not an appropriate venue to settle Aboriginal title claims, which are inherently political in nature.
The Algonquins invited the province and the federal governments to come to Robertsville to discuss the issue.
The Province has responded to the letter, but did not commit to a meeting.
Doreen Davis, Chief of the Shabot Obaadjiwaan First Nation, said she expects that Judge Thomson will make a more formal ruling once the meeting on Thursday takes place, and this might force the hand of the OPP, who have been resolute in their determination to keep the ongoing situation uneventful for the past 7 weeks.