[Indigsol] Upcoming Events: Just Say No Uranium Mining within Ottawa/Gatineau Watershed

[OCAMU]

Please forward far and wide..


Upcoming Events

Report from the May 26 Vigil

Action Alert

*Upcoming Events*

*Vigil: Just Say No to Uranium Mining within Ottawa/Gatineau Watershed *
Ottawa: Friday June 13 at 12 Noon. Meet on the bridge by the old train
station (between Elgin and Wellington) - across from the war memorial.
(Ontario Liberal Party Annual General Meeting at Westin Hotel, Ottawa - June
13-15)

*Flyering*
Ottawa: Thursday, June 12 at WestFest: Meet at 6:30pm outside the Starbucks
at Roosevelt and Richmond Rd. Ottawa

*Flyering*
Kingston: Saturday, June 14th, Bob Lovelace Benefit Concert at Sydenham St.
United Church. Please let us know If you are attending the concert, and if
you are willing to hand out flyers Email: events at kNOw-URANIUM.org



*Report from the last vigil (May 26, 2008)*

*Vigil against uranium mining: a lunch hour call for radioactivity and heavy
metals-free drinkingwater*

Ottawa, Ontario

During the May 26 lunch hour, about twenty people descended on Sparks Street
in front of the CBC building, and unfurled their conspicuous, hand-made
banner displaying a message crafted in large block letters: "Protect Our
Water: Stop Uranium Mining in Ottawa/Gatineau Watershed."

Dressed in bright yellow shirts saying "kNOw-URANIUM.org for our children's
future" and armed with equally bright yellow pamphlets, people from Ottawa
Coalition Against Mining Uranium (OCAMU) together with Raging Grannies,
articling students from UofO's EcoJustice Environmental Law Clinic, Paradigm
Shift Environmental Alliance and other concerned citizens reached out to
passers to inform them of dangers of potential uranium mining in the
Ottawa/Gatineau watershed.

One of their biggest concerns is summarized in the question: "What would
happen to Ottawa/Gatineau drinking water if uranium mining went ahead within
the area's watershed?"

Michael Salisbury, Ottawa's (former) Medical Officer of Health said recently
about uranium exploration and mining in the watershed: "It doesn't take much
from a run-off point of view to get into the aquifer and then contaminate
that aquifer and make that unusable for human consumption. Removing heavy
metals from human water supplies is very difficult."

According to OCAMU's pamphlet, "the City of Ottawa is downstream from
uranium exploration sites in eastern Ontario and West Quebec. If uranium
mines are developed, our water may become undrinkable due to contamination
from heavy metals and radioactivity."

Concerned with the Ontario Government's refusal to inform Ottawa/Gatineau
residents about potential uranium mining through public consultation and
informed consent, people from OCAMU decided to take action and start
distributing information throughout Ottawa and Gatineau area by staging
awareness-raising vigils and flyering sessions.

They are asking every person in Ottawa to contact Ontario Premier McGuinty
and demand: 1) an immediate moratorium on uranium mining until full
environmental assessment is completed and independent health and safety
study is provided to the public; 2) an end to 'free entry' provision of
Ontario Mining Act – which allows mining corporations to stake lands without
informed consent or consultation; and 3) settlement of Native land claims in
Eastern Ontario.

The City of Ottawa and 19 other area municipalities and counties have said
"NO" to uranium mining and petitioned the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec
for a moratorium. So far the answer from both Provinces has been "No."

In addition, multiple expert, professional, environmental, citizen groups
and individuals have made over hundred and fifty submissions to a recently
concluded Ontario-wide Citizens' Inquiry on the Impacts of the Uranium
Cycle, raising questions too grave to be ignored at this critical moment in
the history of Ottawa/Gatineau watershed. *
http://www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com/submissions.htm*

The Citizens' Inquiry grew from the broad concern generated by Donna
Dillman, a 53-year-old grandmother, who fasted for more than two months, to
pressure McGuinty's government to declare a moratorium on potential uranium
exploration and mining in Sharbot Lake (one and a half drive away from
Ottawa) and draw attention to the struggles of Ardoch and Shabot First
Nation and surrounding landowners to protect their land.

The Ontario government remains oblivious to our collective demands, silent
regarding the long term consequences of uranium mining on our health and
environment, and insensitive and colonial-minded towards peaceful protesters
turning them into political prisoners. Bob Lovelace, a retired Algonquin
chief and Queen's University Instructor has been recently released after
serving half of his six month sentence for noncompliance with a provincial
court's injunction which intended to clear the way for uranium mining on his
people's land without their consultation or approval.

The Ontario Government should ensure Ontario's long-term future, not its
boom and bust demise. There is no safe amount of radioactivity one could be
exposed to. Too little is too much for too long. Ottawa/Gatineau's
children's children deserve to grow on clean and safe water.


 *ACTION ALERT*

Without official public consultations, environmental assessment and
independent health and safety studies, many people within the
Ottawa/Gatineau watershed are left in the dark about the proposed uranium
mining and its consequences on their health and environment.

As a result, OCAMU is working to fill the gap in awareness among the general
public.

Since informing everyone within Ottawa/Gatineau is a work of monumental
proportions, OCAMU is asking groups and individuals to adopt this awareness
raising campaign and do any type of outreach possible anywhere in Ottawa and
Gatineau at any time.

We must reach out to each other because our collective water supply is at
stake. Losing water, we lose our very basis for survival. There is no safe
amount of radioactivity or heavy metals. Even a bit of uranium mining is too
much for too long. *Let's stop it before it begins.*

Ways to get involved are multifaceted and many.  Anyone from Ontario or
beyond is welcome to participate.

   -

   organizing vigils or flyering sessions in your neighbourhood or beyond
   -

   postering your neighbourhood
   -

   adopting and adjusting outreach to your organizational style
   -

   joining OCAMU's vigils
   -

   writing letters to Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty or Quebec's Premier
   Jean Charest
   -

   forwarding the message to your listservs and contacts
   -

   generating new lists (e.g. Ottawa/Gatineau elementary and secondary
   schools)
   -

   inviting OCAMU to speak to your groups
   -

   writing, speaking or drawing about the issue in the media
   -

   using multimedia approaches to promote the issue (music, visuals, skits,
   etc.)

To invite us to speak or let us know about your initiatives please email to
*events at kNOw-URANIUM.org* OCAMU will provide a copy of a flyer or a poster
and a banner (if required) for your outreach.





-- 
Sincerely,


Ottawa Coalition Against Mining Uranium
www.kNOw-URANIUM.org
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