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Monday, June 25, 2007
George White is misinformed on two main things, the legitimacy and position of local Native people AND the harmful effects of uranium mining. He appears to live in his own little world though he is quick to point out Randy Cota's conflict of interest as an OPP. He tells us he has sought legal advice but there's one big problem here that overrides this specific situation and the whole picture of Native land claims.
Let me put it metaphorically. Suppose someone steals some goods and sells them to you. Then the rightful owner comes forward to claim the goods. Who gets the goods? What's more, who gets to decide who gets the goods? Is it the person who sold the stolen goods, the person who bought the stolen goods or the person who rightfully and originally owned the goods? Ownership in each case has a slightly different connotation to complicate things even more.
Getting back to George White, he is not telling the truth about his deal with the Sharbot Lake group, as he calls them and Doreen Davies, at least not according to Bob Lovelace, Harold Perry, Frank Morrison and others who were at the council meeting on Sunday. There the two Algonquin factions agreed to work together to oppose the uranium mine period.
George even has the nerve to say that he is working with the Algonquins to protect sacred burial grounds and to provide employment for local Natives. Which is all such total rubbish as to be unworthy of response. Yet he got to say so on national cbc radio!
The only thing I agree with George on is the part about Randy Cota's conflict of interest as chief of AAFNA and OPP officer. I don't think it's right and I don't understand why Bob and Harold go along with this.
Put this into context of all relevant police forces under scrutiny right now for corruption including the OPP. An OPP should not be a Native chief in the first place, plain and simple. The OPP takes an oath to the Crown just like the lawyer does and therefore cannot serve two masters.
Bob Lovelace is a very knowledgeable Algonquin historian and an eloquent and charming speaker who many people admire. Even today, he was able to tell me that the uranium seam which runs from Kaladar to Snow Road does affect the watershed that flows into Tyendinaga territory. As far as I am concerned this matter does so concern the Mohawk people as well.
In regards to uranium mining, George White is also in dreamland when he talks about the 50's. Is he not aware of the great struggle in northern Saskatchewan over uranium mining, the devastation to the people and the land and the recent flooding of the Cigar Lake Mine, October 2006? Surely he knows that uranium went to peak overnight causing stockbrokers to cheer and celebrate while others grieved the devastation of Canada's unreported nuclear disaster. This mine was the largest single, most concentrated deposit of uranium in the world which Cameco (and shareholders, Cogema Resources Inc (37%)[fr], Idemitsu Uranium Exploration Canada Ltd. (8%)and TEPCO Resources Inc.) saw fit to mine with expensive robots since they know how very toxic radiation is.
The government is in denial about the effects of radiation, especially long term even though companies write reports and then file them, recording all kinds of data about the harmful effects of uranium radiation for thousands of years to come. But if you can't prove immediate and instant effects to some people, they'll doubt you so what is to be done?
Scott Gemmill of Gemmill Sand and Gravel, says only 20 people oppose the mine but he doesn't know how many are for it in this community. I wish he'd pay for a good survey, he'd be in for a surprise. I'll bet I can name 20 off the top of my forgetful head who oppose uranium mining.
I don't think we have time to wait for people who doubt the effects of radiation to get the picture. Don't we all have enough folks dying of cancer? Neither do we have time to wait for the resolution of Native land claims. The Ontario Algonquin land claim is a recently filed claim so it would be near the end of the line of over 800 claims before the Canadian courts who of course have no real authority to settle these disputes in the first place. Meanwhile the ravagement of the land goes on and the media are as complicit as ever. That includes cbc, the best of the bad but still not good.
Kittoh
Member, AAFNA
See also Kittoh's Archives 2006 for more on uranium mining
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This page created June 25, 2007
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