[Indigsol] URGENT: Ardoch (background, recent news- even some good news for Ottawa!)

[Angela Schleihauf]

URGENT: A MAJOR PRESENCE IS REQUIRED IN COURT TOMORROW - Wed. at 10 a.m.

 Comments on the court hearings that took place today:

"Today was interesting and difficult.  Bob Lovelace is expected to take the
 stand tomorrow and sentencing may well happen."

"The presence of settlers in the courtroom is vital."

"We need to show the judge that we have support when we stand up to oppose
the drill."

If you can attend court tomorrow, bring along some supportive friends and
make a day of it.
.
Where:  5 Court St., Kingston

When: 10 a.m.
---------------------------------------------------
Background:

1)      URGENT: KINGSTON COURT TOMORROW, 11 a.m., through to Thursday    –
PLEASE ATTEND TO SUPPORT NATIVES AND SETTLERS CHARGED WITH CONTEMPT.
2)      LETTER: MINISTRY NORTHERN MINES AND DEVELOPMENT, to AAFN
3)      RESPONSE: ALGONQUIN FIRST NATION (AAFNA) to the Ministry of Northern
Development and Mines
4)      REPORT ON: Ottawa Council's Community Protective Services Committee
Mtg.
5)      INQUIRY UPDATE: Venues chosen for Kingston & Peterborough.
6)      NEW EVENT: Song Circle and Art Sale, featuring: Jenny Whiteley,
Jennifer Noxon, and Christine Graves, National Arts Centre, Ottawa, March
8th
7)      EVENT REMINDERS:
"WHERE SHOULD NUCLEAR WASTE BE PERMANENTLY BURIED?"
ABORIGINAL FILM NIGHT - "Is the Crown at war with us" Feb. 15th
IAN TAMBLYN - Feb 20th, Ottawa
FATHEAD - Feb 22nd, McDonald's Corners
8)      ATLANTIC REGION PONDERS URANIUM COMEBACK, WHILE FEARS OF FUEL
PERSIST
9)      ISOTOPE CRISIS WAS A HOAX ACCORDING TO CMA, Ish Theilheimer
10)     OTTAWA GOT EARLY WARNING ON ISOTOPES, FIRM SAYS, Globe and Mail
________________________________________________________________________

1) URGENT: KINGSTON COURT HEARINGS, at 5 Court St.,
TOMORROW, Tues, 11 a.m., and currently on the court schedule through to
Thursday    – PLEASE ATTEND TO SUPPORT NATIVES AND SETTLERS CHARGED WITH
CONTEMPT.

"Ardoch Algonquin First Nation has no choice but to continue to prohibit
uranium exploration and mining on our community lands which have been staked
by FVC. While we will not prevent access to private property, we cannot
allow a drill to be brought onto our lands from any adjacent private
property and will stop any such drill from having access. This stance will
no doubt lead to actions against our leaders including the possibility of
arrest, fines of $50,000 in compensation to FVC and $5,000 a day fines for
preventing the drill from having access to our lands. These actions against
our leaders have been requested in the contempt order filed by FVC which
will be heard in Kingston beginning on Tuesday. We are calling on other
Indigenous peoples and Canadian citizens to attend the court process to show
FVC and Ontario that colonialism against Indigenous peoples must stop and
that Canada and Ontario must take responsibility for the past or this issue
will continue to skyrocket until someone is hurt or worse."

FULL STATEMENT BELOW:

Ardoch Algonquin First Nation
Statement on Uranium Issue
February 11, 2008

In early December Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, along with our Neighbours,
Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation entered into mediated negotiations with
Ontario to resolve the underlying issues that led to direct action at the
Robertsville site. While Ardoch cannot speak for Shabot Obaadjiwan, Ardoch
Algonquin people entered into the negotiation process with cautious optimism
that this process might lead to actual discussions that would address the
illegitimacy of the mining claims and land use permits issued by Ontario's
Mining and Northern Development and Natural Resources.  Ardoch's position
has not shifted and we still maintain that Ontario had no legal right to
issue land use permits or mineral claims on our community lands within the
larger Algonquin homeland since those lands had never been ceded nor sold to
the crown.

In retrospect the mediated negotiation process with Ontario was doomed to
failure from the start as Ontario had no real intention of addressing the
underlying issues which led to FVC's own action to file a claim and stake
over 30,000 acres of our community lands. In reality, FVC's mineral claims
should not have been processed at all as there was no transfer of title or
jurisdiction from Ardoch Algonquin First Nation or even the larger Algonquin
Nation, which encompasses billions of acres in what is now Ontario and
Quebec. No transfer of title or ownership means the lands in question remain
under the jurisdiction of Algonquin people, not the province of Ontario or
even Canada. As such Ontario had no legal right to issue mineral claims, and
it's this negligence that Ontario refused to deal with or take
responsibility for in the negotiation process.

The failure to reach a resolution rests squarely on the shoulders of the
province and not with the Algonquin people who participated in the process.
While we entered into the negotiations in good faith, with the understanding
that our concerns would be addressed and discussed, Ontario entered into it
with a predetermined mandate and understanding with Frontenac that they
would be allowed to drill, no matter the outcome. This became very obvious
to us on the last day of negotiations when MMND representative Cam Clark
admitted that Ontario's position was that drilling would have to occur
alongside any actual consultation process that was started between the
parties. For Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, pre-determined drilling was a
non-starter which left us with no choice but to withdraw from the process.
As a result of our refusal to continue in a process that has a
pre-determined mandate to allow drilling, we are once again being
constructed as criminals and villains by Frontenac Ventures and the Ontario
court system.

In reality, it is Algonquin people and our homeland that are the actual
victims in this process. While FVC may feel inconvenienced as a result of
Ontario's negligence, Algonquin people are suffering violations of our human
rights that have the potential to deprive us of actual existence as people
in the future. While FVC is concerned about profits, we are concerned about
our ability to have life as people. While this way of understanding the
world is difficult for many to grasp, including FVC and Ontario, it is very
clear to us. Our identity as distinct people (as Algonquin people), is
embedded in the relationships that we maintain with the Natural World within
our homeland. That identity has developed over thousands of years and is the
result of a historical process of relating that must be maintained in a
balanced way for us to survive into the future as distinct people.

Uranium exploration on our community lands is a violation of our human
rights because it will negatively impact our relations within our homeland
which we depend on for the continuation of our collective identity. Without
those relationships we have no future as people. Given the fact that the
"right to life" is upheld in international legislation and within the
Constitution Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (all of which Canada
holds dear and broadcasts to the world), it distresses us greatly that we
seem to be the only human beings whose "rights to life" as people are cast
aside and continually violated. How much longer do we and our homeland have
to suffer this colonial legacy before Ontario and Canada truly becomes
cognisant of the past and the treatment of Indigenous peoples?

While FVC and Ontario continue to construct us as the villains, we are not
criminals committing criminal acts; we are people taking a stand to protect
and maintain our relationships within our homeland. We are required to do
this under our own law which predates the establishment of Ontario or
Canada. We are the ones whose human rights are continually being violated
and whose relationships with the Natural World are continually being
compromised by the actions of government officials who allow companies to
exploit those lands and waterscapes for which we have the ultimate
responsibility to protect. So while FVC may indeed be inconvenienced by
Ontario's negligence, that inconvenience cannot possibly compare to the
human rights violations we will suffer as people as a result of uranium
exploration and mining within our community lands.

Ardoch Algonquin First Nation has no choice but to continue to prohibit
uranium exploration and mining on our community lands which have been staked
by FVC. While we will not prevent access to private property, we cannot
allow a drill to be brought onto our lands from any adjacent private
property and will stop any such drill from having access. This stance will
no doubt lead to actions against our leaders including the possibility of
arrest, fines of $50,000 in compensation to FVC and $5,000 a day fines for
preventing the drill from having access to our lands. These actions against
our leaders have been requested in the contempt order filed by FVC which
will be heard in Kingston beginning on Tuesday. We are calling on other
Indigenous peoples and Canadian citizens to attend the court process to show
FVC and Ontario that colonialism against Indigenous peoples must stop and
that Canada and Ontario must take responsibility for the past or this issue
will continue to skyrocket until someone is hurt or worse.
_________________________________________________________________

2) LETTER: MINISTRY NORTHERN MINES AND DEVELOPMENT, to AAFN

Ministry Northern Development and Mines
Développement du Nord of Ministère du, et des Mines
P.O. Bag 3060, 1270 Hwy 101 E.
South Porcupine, ON
P0N 1H0

Tel: 705-235-1628

Mineral Development and Lands Branch Fax: 705-235-1620

February 2, 2008

Co-Chief Robert Lovelace
Ardoch Algonquin First Nation
Dear Co-Chief Lovelace

Re: Frontenac Mediation and Consultation
As pointed out in the February 1st message from mediator Richard Moore, it
appears that the mediation process has reached an impasse and is now at an
end. The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines is disappointed that a
mutually agreeable proposal to undertake further consultation with your
communities was not reached in the mediation process. However, we believe
that the mediation was useful in allowing the parties present to gain a
better understanding of each other's views in respect of some of the issues
raised in the litigation.
Ontario has been committed and it remains committed to engaging in
consultation efforts in respect of Frontenac's proposed exploratory drilling
campaign. As the mediation process concludes, we understand that Frontenac
Ventures Corporation intends to proceed with the Phase One exploration on
the property specifically authorized in the September 27, 2007 order of
Justice Cunningham. Ontario's objective remains to identify and address,
through accommodation if appropriate, Algonquin rights associated with the
Frontenac tract that may be put at risk by the proposed campaign. Ontario
would like to meet with you early next week before any drilling proceeds to
have a discussion on the appropriate location of any initial strategic
drilling sites. In addition, we would like to continue to discuss the
remainder of Frontenac's proposed initial exploration plan including the
identification of any impacts, required archaeological or other studies and
any mitigation measures identified from these discussions.

Such an exchange would provide the foundation to assist in ongoing
consultation with respect to the initial phase of exploration and any
additional stages of the exploration sequence if the Frontenac project were
to proceed further. In addition, MNDM remains open to both the negotiation
of a consultation protocol on a broader range of mineral exploration issues
and to the identification of specific sites of importance to Algonquin
communities which could be withdrawn from staking under the Mining Act.

Please get in touch with me as soon as possible to arrange a meeting at the
beginning of next week to discuss Frontenac's plan for strategic drilling
sites. If you are agreeable, we feel it would be very important for
Frontenac to participate in this meeting. I would also appreciate learning
of your availability for on-going consultation in relation to this project.

Sincerely,
Rob Ferguson
Mineral Development Coordinator
Cc. Neil Smitheman, Fasken Martin

______________________________ __________________________________________

3) ARDOCH ALGONQUIN FIRST NATION (AAFNA) response to letter from the
Minister of Northern Development and Mines (see above)

February 4, 2008

           Re: Uranium Exploration in Ardoch Algonquins' Territory

I am writing in response to your February 2, 2008 letter.  We agree that the
mediation process has ended without any agreements.

The mediated negotiation ended when Mr. Clark, MNDM negotiator, withdrew
support for a fundamental understanding which had been agreed upon by all
parties and had been the basis for moving forward with a consultation
framework.  The parties attending the negotiations had agreed that a
consultation process must begin with the expectation of a wide range of
possible outcomes, one of which might be that no further exploration would
take place. AAFN's collaboration in building a framework for a consultation
was predicated on MNDM's commitment to that principle stated above.  When
the MNDM negotiator retracted his support for this principle and insisted
that the exploration activities, including drilling, must be concurrent with
consultation, AAFN saw little reason to continue discussions.

Although your letter expressed an interest in beginning consultations with
our community in connection with the activities of Frontenac Ventures
Corporation, we do not regard your offer as genuine.

As we have said repeatedly, it is our view the discussions between Ontario
and our community should begin by focusing on whether mineral claims can be
registered within AAFN territory and, if so, what types of claims can be
registered and what consultations should occur prior to the registration of
those claims.  Once these discussions have progressed we will be in a
position to discuss particular project proposals relating to any lands which
remain open for mineral exploration.

However, in clear violation of Canadian law which requires consultation with
affected First Nation communities prior to the alienation of land which is
claimed by them, or the issuance of

any exploration rights with respect to those lands, the government of
Ontario did not consult with our community before allowing FVC to stake
claims and register those claims.  The failure to consult with the First
Nation community most affected by this program of exploration renders the
mineral claims recorded to date invalid.

Your letter does not offer to hold any consultations on the staking of
mineral claims by FVC, or on whether those claims should be recorded.  Nor
does your offer to consult allow for any possibility that consultations will
lead to a decision that there will be no drilling for uranium on our land.
Instead, you only propose to only hold consultations on where FVC will drill
and how many holes will be drilled.  We are not allowed, in your proposed
consultations, to even consider the possibility that there will be no
mineral claims on our land and no drilling for uranium.

We do not regard this as a genuine offer to consult since the outcome of the
consultations has been pre-determined by MNDM.

We repeat that we are prepared to begin consultations with Ontario on
whether or not mineral claims should be recorded on our land and on whether
or not exploratory drilling for uranium should be allowed.  Our only
pre-condition for beginning consultations is for Ontario to agree that it is
just as likely that the consultations will result in a decision not to allow
any drilling for uranium as it is that the consultations will result in a
decision to allow drilling.

Further, we do not believe that there is any likelihood of holding genuine
consultations with MNDM, since MNDM is openly and actively committed to
promoting the interests of the mining industry in Ontario.  Throughout the
past seven months, MNDM has proven incapable of taking any position other
than full, unconditional support for Frontenac Ventures Corporation, and
blind opposition to every compromise suggested by AAFN.

If any true consultations are to occur, they will be lead by the Ministry of
Aboriginal Affairs, not by MNDM.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Robert Lovelace
Chief Negotiator
Ardoch Algonquin First Nation
Cc:       Chief Paula Sherman, AAFN
           Chief Randy Cota, AAFN
           Chief Doreen Davis, SOFN
           C. Reid, AAFN lawyer
________________________________________________________________________

4) TWO REPORTS on Ottawa Council Community Protective Services Committee
Mtg.

From: David Gill, Ottawa OCAMU
The work goes on but this little victory is very good for all of us.
The culmination of many days with little sleep and a lot of consternation on
the issues we are dealing with as we made our approach to the Community
Protective Services Committee, (the health and safety committee of Ottawa
City Council) have brought us to this point.  As a note from Grandfather
William and Ramola put it "A new moon before the solar eclipse, the Bear
Moon, Ash Wednesday, and the New Chinese Year (of the Rat) – Something's got
to give".
Something did give and I want to thank everyone who helped by attending and
speaking. The Councillors voted unanimously for our resolution.  This
resolution will now go to the Ottawa Municipal Council of the Whole on the
27th Feb.
Thanks, in particular, to our Algonquin allies and to CCAMU for coming all
the way into Ottawa for this.  Your participation brought a great deal of
weight to the motion.  Also thanks to John Sullivan, the miner from Timmons,
who so wonderfully described, from his first hand account, the dreadful
image of the tailings ponds.  I did not write down his contact information,
so if anyone else did, could you please forward to me.
We have just over two weeks to keep the pressure on the Ottawa City
Councillors by communicating our concerns as citizens by telephone, email or
letter.  Contact details here;
http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/mayor_council/councillors/index_en.html
OCAMU has a lot to do between now and the 27th.  Thanks again, David
_________

And from: Chandler Swain, OCAMU
It was a great scene in the committee room on Thursday. The energy and power
of the truth made everyone feel elated.  Before our issue even came up on
the agenda, the chair said they were going to pass the motion so it might
save a lot of time for the delegations to not to have to present but there
was too much momentum. The presentations went ahead and were compelling.
Nobody is taking us lightly, that's for sure.
After driving 2 hours that morning in the snow storm (for a 35 minute drive)
I met a several other people that day who had other meetings cancelled
because of the weather. Not our meeting. We were all there. Nothing was
keeping us away. You 2 would have loved it.
Onward.
______________________________________________________________________

5) UPDATE: VENUES CHOSEN FOR KINGSTON & PETERBOROUGH.
Kingston: Corner of Queen and Clergy Streets beginning on April 8th, 2008
Peterborough: Sadlier House - 751 George St. N., beginning on April 15th,
2008
Registration for participation at the Hearing venues is required.  Email:
www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com  Deadline: 2 weeks before date at venue
requested.
It's not too early to begin sending your written and electronic submissions
to:
Citizens' Inquiry on the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle,
2799 McDonald's Corners Rd, R.R.#3, Lanark, ON
Electronic submissions to:  info at uraniumcitizensinquiry.com
_______________________________________________________________________

6) NEW EVENT: Song Circle and Art Sale, featuring: Jenny Whiteley, Jennifer
Noxon, and Christine Graves - Sat. March 8th, $25.00 - Proceeds to benefit
anti-uranium fight in Eastern Ontario.
National Arts Centre, 4th Stage
5 Women and Some Art, plus special guest
International Women's Day Benefit
Tickets available in advance at NAC Box Office,
Ticketmaster.ca<http://ticketmaster.ca/>and Compact Music
613 233 8922



7) EVENT REMINDERS:

"WHERE SHOULD NUCLEAR WASTE BE PERMANENTLY BURIED?"
Feb 13th at 5 p.m.
University of Ottawa - Pavillon Fauteux Hall - 57 Louis Pasteur - Pièce/Room
351

A (one-sided) debate:
The honourable Gary Lunn "in absentia" - Minister of Natural Resources
'vs.'
J Norman Rubin - Energy Probe, Toronto
 ________________

ABORIGINAL FILM NIGHT - "Is the Crown at war with US"
Feb. 15, 6:30 p.m.
Mera School House, McDonald's Corners.
Bring and appetizer to share.
The film and discussion series is open to all and is free of charge.
_________________

IAN TAMBLYN IN CONCERT:
The National Archives, Wed., Feb. 20th at 7:30 pm
Admission is $25.00.
Tickets available in Ottawa through all CD Warehouse outlets and Legend
Records (Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre Carling and Richmond Road) and at
the Folklore Centre, 1111 Bank St.
_________________

FATHEAD Dance, McDonald's Corners Agricultural Hall,
Fri. Feb 22, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
LLBO and refreshments.
Admission:  $20.00.
 Tickets available at Shadowfax in Perth, or call 1-800-518-2729
http://www.ccamu.ca/pics/fathead.gif

______________________________________________________________________

8)  ATLANTIC REGION PONDERS URANIUM COMEBACK, WHILE FEARS OF FUEL PERSIST

Published: Wednesday, February 6, 2008 | 2:34 PM ET
Canadian Press: Michael Tutton, THE CANADIAN PRESS

HALIFAX - After spending years prospecting for uranium in northern
Saskatchewan, geologist Neil Downey has returned to his roots in Atlantic
Canada, drawn by an exploration rush as prices for the radioactive mineral
have skyrocketed.

In the past seven years, uranium spot prices have jumped ten-fold, recently
levelling off at about $75 per pound.

Geologist Neil Downey, an employee of Tripple Uranium Resources, looks over
a map of a New Brunswick uranium claim at his office in Dartmouth, N.S. on
Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008. Downey, who worked in northern Saskatchewan searching
for uranium, believes in a nuclear renaissance fueled by the silvery
element.

"The price of uranium has driven demand, and therefore companies are now
exploring in areas that might not have been looked at before," says Downey,
senior geologist at Dartmouth-based Tripple Uranium Resources Inc., a
subsidiary of Vancouver-based Capella Resources Ltd. (TSX:CPS).

"In Labrador, some of the geological environments are very similar to
Saskatchewan, and they're the prime targets right now." As a result, East
Coast geologists like Downey are coming home to work claims that would have
been passed over not so long ago.

There are now over a dozen junior firms holding licences across the region,
with the largest companies focused on the central mineral belt of Labrador.
Downey says prospects in New Brunswick and Labrador are particularly
promising.

The soaring demand for uranium, which is primarily used to create fuel for
nuclear power plants, is being driven by a growing list of countries seeking
"greener" energy sources that will help them reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.

The World Nuclear Association estimates 30 reactors are now under
construction around the world, and 64 more are planned, including a second
reactor in New Brunswick at Point Lepreau.

Mark O'Dea, the 40-year-old chief executive of Vancouver-based Aurora Energy
(TSX:AXU), is behind a plan to build the first Canadian uranium mine outside
Saskatchewan.  O'Dea, who grew up in Newfoundland, currently divides his
time between Labrador and British Columbia.

He says his company will seek environmental approval for an underground and
open-pit operation at Michelin and Jacques Lake in Labrador. Combined, the
two ore bodies southwest of Postville could yield up to 100 million pounds
of uranium.

"When you assess what's present in Canada, outside of the Athabaska basin
(in Saskatchewan), this is one of the only big, viable uranium projects,"
O'Dea said in an interview. "We've got the heart of this new uranium
district ... and we own it."

But the world's renewed interest in uranium is raising alarm among an
increasingly vocal group of environmentalists and ordinary citizens who have
spotted prospectors making their rounds in and around their communities.

The industry's detractors warn that uranium mining produces dangerous waste
that is difficult to contain. "Uranium mine tailings are among the most
difficult to manage wastes on the planet," said Mark Winfield, an assistant
professor of environmental studies at York University in Toronto.

"They contain toxic substances, particularly heavy metals. About 85 per cent
of the radionucleides from the ore end up in the tailings, so it's
radioactive. They're typically acidic and semi liquid and hard to contain."

Winfield, who has conducted research for the Pembina Institute in Alberta,
argues the proposed ventures in the Maritimes are of particular concern
because they represent marginal business propositions. "In the Maritimes,
because you'd be dealing with relatively low-grade ore, you'd tend to
produce more tailings per tonne of ore."

O'Dea says his Labrador mine would produce about 2.2 pounds of uranium per
tonne of ore - that's on par with worldwide averages. But Jerry Grandey,
chief executive of Cameco Ltd. (TSX:CCO), says that grade is low when
compared with what is mined in Saskatchewan. "Will it (Labrador's mines) be
economic? ... It's yet to be determined," says Grandey, whose company
describes itself as the largest uranium producer in Canada.
"They've got quite a bit of work to do."

Grandey says the emergence of an Atlantic uranium industry will likely start
with a major public debate. "Every political jurisdiction starts out with a
mythology, generally with an anti bias," he says. "But when they get into
the facts ... then they say of all human activity and endeavours, this is
one of the least risky."

In New Brunswick, the debate has already started. Citizens groups are
writing letters to newspaper editors, taking aim at exploration carried out
last summer by Vale Inco Ltd. near Moncton.

In Nova Scotia, where the provincial government imposed a moratorium on
uranium mining in 1982, the debate has been revived by reports that claim
staking for uranium has started up again despite the law.

The province's Opposition New Democrats have accused the Tory minority
government of using "subterfuge" to allow staking in areas near previous
uranium finds.

Robert Krienke, president of Tripple Uranium Resources, insists the
company's work in Nova Scotia is aimed at finding other minerals. Still, he
admits that recent public meetings in New Brunswick have made it clear there
is growing opposition to anything that hints at a revival of uranium
prospecting. "It's been geared towards a mob that wants to lynch you because
you're in exploration," he says.

The mining industry has taken note, with some stock analysts warning there
is a history of community opposition blocking even the brightest of
prospects. Raymond Goldie, an analyst with Toronto-based Salman Partners,
says even though there have been impressive finds in Labrador, "the biggest
immediate issue they face is the social problem. "Not everyone who lives in
that area is pro uranium mining."

________________________________________________________________________

9) ISOTOPE CRISIS WAS A HOAX ACCORDING TO CMA; A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR
OPPOSITION

http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature8.cfm?REF=75

Dateline: Tuesday, February 05, 2008

by Ish Theilheimer

This week the Canadian Medical Association Journal confirmed what
StraightGoods.ca and HarperIndex.ca have been reporting since December. The
medical isotope crisis was a hoax.

In December, the NDP, Liberals and Bloc went along with the Harper
government in overruling Canada's nuclear safety regulator based on spin
from AECL, the giant health care corporation MDS Nordion and the government
itself. The problem could have been avoided if MDS Nordion had joined
international efforts to coordinate global production of isotopes.

Canadian patients were forced to wait for treatment by market manipulation
rather than a product shortage.

The Journal reported that MDS has refused to share information with
international colleagues about isotope supply issues out of competitive
concerns. The Globe and Mail reported on Tuesday that there "is 'plenty of
surplus capacity' among isotope suppliers," but MDS did not want word of
this to get out lest their competitors gain market share.

The report confirms that the crisis was politically manufactured and that
Canadian patients were forced to wait for treatment by market manipulation
rather than a product shortage. It's too bad for all Canadians that the
Opposition bought the bait, because it weakens every federal regulator and
institution.

The Parliamentary override of the regulator combines with the firing of
nuclear safety commission president Linda Keen by the Harper Conservatives
all forms part of a pattern that has emerged with this government. At the
Canadian Wheat Board, the president was fired because he favoured the system
of supply management for which the Board was created. Now Environment Canada
has told its staff they must clear all public communications with political
staff.

It is particularly unfortunate for the NDP that the party did not see the
isotope debate as the golden opportunity it was to show its colours as an
environmental and corporate watchdog.

__________________________________________________________________

10) OTTAWA GOT EARLY WARNING ON ISOTOPES, FIRM SAYS
SHAWN MCCARTHY
Globe and Mail, February 8, 2008 at 4:44 AM EST

OTTAWA — Senior federal officials were warned that the shutdown of the Chalk
River research reactor would cause a worldwide shortage of medical isotopes
at least 10 days before ministers say they were told of the growing crisis,
a parliamentary committee heard yesterday.

MDS Nordion, the private firm that processes isotopes from the reactor and
supplies them to pharmaceutical companies, met on Nov. 22 with Atomic Energy
of Canada Ltd. and Natural Resources Canada, Nordion vice-president Grant
Malkoske said.

"We communicated quite clearly that, as a result of the outage, we could see
a global supply shortage of 30 per cent," he told MPs. Mr. Malkoske said he
had no explanation as to why Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn had
testified that he was unaware of the impending crisis until Dec. 3.

While opposition MPs supported legislation ordering the Chalk River reactor
to be restarted in December, they have since accused the government of
bungling the crisis - and then exaggerating its effect in order to justify
the firing of embattled federal nuclear regulator Linda Keen.

In the House of Commons yesterday, Liberal MP Omar Alghabra said it is
inconceivable that cabinet ministers were not told about the growing
shortage of medical isotopes, given that not only were officials told, but
that the medical community began to receive warnings as early as Nov. 22.

At the Nov. 22 meeting, Nordion officials "conveyed a great sense of urgency
and they warned of a global shortage of isotopes, yet the Minister of
Natural Resources claims he did not know until Dec. 3 and apparently he did
not bother telling the Minister of Health until Dec. 5," Mr. Alghabra said.
 "Why did the Minister of Natural Resources put Canadian lives at risk
because of his incompetence?"

Health Minister Tony Clement stuck to his timeline, but said the cabinet
ministers acted as soon as they were aware of the crisis.

Nordion officials rejected opposition suggestions that either the company,
or the federal government, failed to access sufficient supplies from
Belgium, France and South Africa - the only other countries with reactors
that produce the required isotopes.
Mr. Malkoske said that if the Chalk River reactor goes down for more than
seven days, the other reactors cannot fully supply the hospitals, resulting
in a shortage. While other reactors did "ramp up," there was still a
35-per-cent global shortage in supply.

He added that the shutdown has given Canada a negative profile in the
international medical community, which relies on the Chalk River reactor for
more than 50 per cent of the supply of medical isotopes.

"Clearly, it is imperative that government, industry and the nuclear
medicine community collectively find a long-term solution for the reliable
supply of isotopes from Canada," he said.

Nordion had hoped that solution would already be in place with the planned
construction of AECL's new research reactors, Maple I and Maple II, but they
have been plagued with design flaws and it is uncertain when they will be
completed.

Christopher O'Brien, president of the Ontario Association of Nuclear
Medicine, said smaller hospitals had to delay diagnostic procedures and, in
some cases, emergency surgery was performed without the benefit of medical
imaging.

"We found ourselves in a crisis situation," Dr. O'Brien said. "We found
ourselves teetering on the brink of disaster before the reactor came back
online."

___________

Clarification from Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation

Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation representatives returned to the Robertsville
Site on Friday February 1, 2008, but not for the purpose of blocking entry
by Frontenac Ventures (FVC).  The Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation has been
and will continue to be respectful of the injunction requiring us not to
interfere with the work of FVC.

Although representatives of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation met with
representatives from the Ardoch community at the site, we pursue our own
council on this matter and are not working with Ardoch to "resecure" the
site.  We continue to seek consultation and negotation with Ontario and FVC.
 In the meantime, we will continue to monitor activities at the site as
allowed under the terms of the injunction.

Chief Doreen Davis
Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation
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