[Indigsol] IPSMO Newsletter September 9-14

[Indigenous Peoples' Solidarity Movement -Ottawa]

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IPSMO Newsletter, September 9-14
Events, Articles, Request for Letters
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1) Announcements from IPSMO

1a) New Domain Name
1b) IPSMO on Facebook
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2) Events
2a) Honouring Donald Marshall Junior/ Ginawaydaganuc; September 13 at
Victoria Island
2b) The Epidemic of Continuing Violence Against Indigenous Women/
l’épidémie de violence contre les femmes autochtones; September 16,
National Library and Archives/16 septembre, Bibliothèque et Archives
nationales

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3) Articles


3a) Missing girls’ families accuse police of racism, incompetence Ottawa
Citizen; September 5, 2009
3b) Missing Girls Believed to be Alive: Police Search Focuses on Ontario
Ottawa Citizen; Thursday, September 3, 2009

3c) Families heartbroken 1 year after Quebec girls vanished Maisy Odjig,
16, and Shannon Alexander, 17, last seen Sept. 6 CBC News; Wednesday,
September 2, 2009

3d) Lament for a river lost Guardian Weekly; Monday, August 31st 2009

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4) Requests for Letters and Signatures

4a) Groups Call for Comprehensive Reform of Ontario's outdated mining laws
4b) Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on First Nations Child Welfare
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1) IPSMO Announcements
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1a) New Domain Name
Try out our new domain name to the IPSMO webpage: www.ipsmo.org


1b) IPSMO on Facebook
Look us up on facebook to join the group and recieve alert about events.
Invite your friends!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=120142932547



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2) Events
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2a) Honouring Donald Marshall Junior; September 13 at Victoria Island

Grandfather William Commanda invites you to
A CIRCLE OF ALL NATIONS PRAYER AND SHARING CIRCLE ON THE WORK,
CONTRIBUTIONS AND

LEGACY OF A SINGULAR INDIGENOUS AND NATIONAL HERO, DONALD MARSHALL JUNIOR
September 13
1 – 4 pm
Victoria Island, Ottawa, Canada

We are inviting people to offer comments on several key contributions of
Donald

Marshall Junior to transforming the history of this country, on the
fifty-sixth

A list of key participants is being finalized.  Others who have known
Junior or been
inspired by him are also invited to participate in the Sharing Circle.


Prayer – William Commanda

An Inspirational National Hero
Impact on Aboriginal Justice and Policing
Contributions to the Aboriginal Justice Learning Network
The Wrongfully Convicted Legacy

Donald Marshall Senior Youth Cultural Camp

 Legal Rights and Indigenous Resources
The Eel, Species at Risk and Indigenous Environmental Responsibilities
Racial Harmony and The Wolf Project Award

(Written or oral presentations on different aspects of Junior’s
contributions by

Romola, Clayton Sandy, Jane McMillan, Laura Calmwind, Freda Ens, Claudette
Commanda
others)

Music
Please bring your chairs, maybe umbrellas, and join us for an afternoon of
prayer,
commemoration and celebration at Victoria Island


circleofallnations at sympatico.ca to confirm
web.mac.com/circleofallnations

www.circleofallnations.ca
www.asinabka.com
613-599-8385/819 449-2668
*******

Ginawaydaganuc


UNE PRIÈRE ET UN CERCLE DE PAROLE
POUR LE TRAVAIL, LA  CONTRIBUTIONS ET L'HÉRITAGE
D'UN HÉRO NATIONAL AUTOCHTONES,
DONALD MARSHALL JUNIOR
AURA LIEU
Le13 septembre 2009
1 - 4 pm
A l'île Victoria, Ottawa, Canada


Nous invitons les gens à formuler des observations sur plusieurs 
contributions clés
de Donald Marshall junior qui ont transformé l'histoire de ce pays, à
l'occasion du cinquante-sixième
anniversaire de sa naissance.


Une liste des principaux participants est en cours de finalisation.
D'autres qui ont
connu Junior ou ont été inspirés par lui sont également invités à
participer au
cercle de partage.

Prière - William Commanda


Un héros national inspirant
Impact sur la justice applicable aux Autochtones
Contributions à l'apprentissage des Autochtones Justice Network
Les personnes condamnées à tort Legacy

 Des ressources de la jeunesse autochtones

L'anguille, espèce autochtone en péril et responsabilités environnementales
L'harmonie raciale et The Wolf Project Award
Paix

(Les présentations écrites ou orales sur différents aspects des
contributions Junior

par Romola, Clayton Sandy, Jane McMillan, Laura Calmwind, Freda Ens,
Claudette
confirmé, et d'autres)

Musique
S'il vous plaît Apportez vos chaises et, peut-être parapluies, et
rejoignez nous
pour un après-midi de prière, et de célébration à l'île Victoria


circleofallnations at sympatico.ca pour confirmer
web.mac.com / circleofallnations

www.circleofallnations.ca
www.asinabka.com
613-599-8385/819 449-2668
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



2b) The Epidemic of Continuing Violence Against Indigenous Women

In solidarity with Indigenous Women across Turtle Island
please join us in an evening of understanding
The Epidemic of Continuing Violence Against Indigenous Women


6:30 PM Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Auditorium, National Library and Archives
395 Wellington St. Ottawa, Algonquin Territory
Wheelchair Accessible
Free!

This event is also a fundraiser for Laurie Odjick and her family for their


Anishinabeg teenagers from Kitigan Zibi, who have been missing since
September 5th, 2008 (http://www.findmaisyandshannon.com/), and to support


Presented by
Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa
ipsmo at riseup.net,
http://ipsmo.wordpress.com


Opening Ceremony:
Verna McGregor, Anishinabekwe, Omàmiwinini (Algonquin) Nation
and Elaine Kicknosway

Films Screening:

The Heart Has Its Own Memory by Audrey Huntley and Folkard Fritz

Speakers:

Laurie Odjick
Omàmiwinini (Algonquin) Nation
Mother of Maisy Odjick, Missing Teenage Girl

Doreen Silversmith
Guyohkohnyo (Cayuga) Nation
No More Silence Network

Bruce Sinclair
Metis Nation (Saskatchewan)

Brother In Spirit, Native Women’s Association of Canada

According to the Sisters In Spirit research by Native Women Association of

murdered Indigenous women and girls.  Why are Indigenous women more
susceptible to violence?  Why is there violence against women,

particularly Indigenous women?  On September 16th, we will get a closer

Turtle Island (Canada) and root causes of violence against Grandmothers,
Grand aunties, Mothers, Aunties, Sisters and Daughters.

Exact a year ago, on September 15, 2008, hundreds of people gathered in


response from Canadian State on the violence against Indigenous women.
Since then, the circumstances of Indigenous women have not changed –
colonial and racial oppressions and violence continue.  The majority of


Indigenous women face today.

In addition to demanding actions from Canadian government, what would it
take for us to understand that the health of our environment is

What would it take for us to begin caring about Indigenous women so that

they will be once again respected and honoured like their ancestors prior


Related Links:

A Letter from Kitigan Zibi http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2677


Violence & Abuse Against Indigenous Women & Children: A Legacy of

http://wiinimkiikaa.wordpress.com/violence-abuse-against-indigenous-women-children/


Indigenous Women and Violence, Quebec Native Women Inc.
http://www.faq-qnw.org/documents/reportviolence2008.pdf

Sisters in Spirit, Native Women’s Association of Canada

http://www.nwac-hq.org/en/background.html

Amnesty International Canada: End violence against Indigenous women
http://www.amnesty.ca/take_action/actions/canada_stolen_sisters_2009.php


Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Society http://www.elizabethfry.ca/
Fact Sheets http://www.elizabethfry.ca/eweek09/factsht.htm


PrisonerJustice.ca http://www.vcn.bc.ca/august10/

Missing/Murdered First Nations (Native) Women
http://www.missingnativewomen.ca/


Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
http://missingjustice.mvmnt.ca/

Minwaashin Lodge http://www.minlodge.com/


Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre http://www.dewc.ca/

An Indigenous Perspective on Feminism, Militarism, and the Environment
http://www.urbanhabitat.org/node/951


******

l’épidémie de violence contre les femmes autochtones

Joignez-vous aux femmes autochtones de l’Île de la Tortue
à l’occasion d’une soirée de réflexion sur
l’épidémie de violence contre les femmes autochtones


le mercredi 16 septembre 2009 à 18 h 30
à l’Auditorium, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales
395, rue Wellington, Ottawa, Territoire Algonquin
Accessible aux fauteuils roulants
Gratuit! Ouvert à tous et à toutes.


Cette soirée servira aussi à recueillir des fonds pour Laurie Odjick et sa
famille
alors qu’elles s’efforcent de retrouver Maisy Odjick (sa fille) et Shannon
Alexander, deux adolescentes d’Anishinabeg de la communauté Kitigan Zibi
portées

www.findmaisyandshannon.com/) et pour appuyer
l’initiative pour mettre fin à la violence contre les femmes autochtones.

le Mouvement de solidarité des peuples autochtones (Ottawa)

ipsmo at riseup.net,
http://ipsmo.wordpress.com

Cérémonie d’ouverture :

Verna McGregor et Elaine Kicknosway, Anishinabekweg,
Nation Omàmiwinini (Algonquine) et Nation des Cris

Projection de films :
The Highway of Tears de Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Conférencières et conférencier :

Laurie Odjick
Nation Omàmiwinini (Algonquine)
Mère de Maisy Odjick, adolescente portée disparue

Doreen Silversmith
No More Silence Network

Bruce Sinclair
Nation des Métis (Saskatchewan)
Frères par l’esprit, Association des femmes autochtones du Canada


Selon des recherches effectuées par le groupe Sœurs par l’esprit de
l’Association
disparues ou assassinées depuis quarante ans. Pourquoi les femmes autochtones
sont-elles plus susceptibles de subir de la violence? Pourquoi y a-t-il de la

nous aurons la chance de mieux comprendre la réalité de la vie des femmes
autochtones de Turtle Island (Canada) et des causes profondes de la
violence contre

Il y a exactement un an, soit le 15 septembre 2008, des centaines de
personnes se

sont rassemblées devant la Colline parlementaire pour sensibiliser la
population et
femmes autochtones. Depuis, les circonstances des femmes autochtones n’ont
pas
changé : la violence et l’oppression coloniale et raciale se poursuivent. La

menaces atroces font face les femmes autochtones encore aujourd’hui.

En plus d’exiger des mesures de la part du gouvernement canadien, que
faut-il faire
inextricablement liée à la santé et au bien-être des femmes autochtones?

Qu’attendons-nous pour commencer à prendre soin des femmes autochtones
afin qu’elles
colonisation?

Liens connexes :
A Letter from Kitigan Zibi www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2677


Violence & Abuse Against Indigenous Women & Children: A Legacy of
Colonialism &
Apartheid
wiinimkiikaa.wordpress.com/violence-abuse-against-indigenous-women-children/


Les femmes autochtones et la violence au Canada, Femmes Autochtones du
Québec Inc.
www.faq-qnw.org/documents/femmesautochtonesetviolence-tradFR_000.pdf


Sœurs par l’esprit, Association des femmes autochtones du Canada
www.nwac-hq.org/fr/background.html

Amnesty International Canada: End violence against Indigenous women

www.amnesty.ca/take_action/actions/canada_stolen_sisters_2009.php

Association canadienne des Sociétés Elizabeth Fry www.elizabethfry.ca/


Feuillets d’information
www.elizabethfry.ca/eweek09f/factshtf.htm

PrisonerJustice.ca www.vcn.bc.ca/august10/


Femmes (autochtones) des Premières nations portées disparues ou assassinées
www.missingnativewomen.ca/

Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women missingjustice.mvmnt.ca/


Minwaashin Lodge www.minlodge.com

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre www.dewc.ca

An Indigenous Perspective on Feminism, Militarism, and the Environment

www.urbanhabitat.org/node/951



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3) Articles

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3a) Missing girls’ families accuse police of racism, incompetence
By Brendan Kennedy, Ottawa Citizen; September 5, 2009

KITIGAN ZIBI ANISHINABEG FIRST NATION, Que. — Lisa Odjick is stalked by
nightmares of her missing granddaughter.

“One time I dreamt she was being held against her will,” she says. “I
could hear her calling me.”

Maisy Odjick, 16, and her friend Shannon Alexander, 17, disappeared from
the Kitigan Zibi-Maniwaki area, about 130 kilometres north of Ottawa, on
Sept. 6, 2008. The house where they were last known to be was locked.
There were no signs of foul play. The teens left behind purses, clothes,
electronics, identification and even medication.

On the reserve, rumours abound of human trafficking, prostitution, drug
use, even possible sightings of the teens in Montreal, Toronto or as far
away as Arizona.

The girls’ parents accuse the Kitigan Zibi police of incompetence. They’ve
called the Surete du Quebec, the provincial police force, complacent and
racist. (Maisy lived on the reserve; Shannon resided in the nearby town of
Maniwaki. It is a joint police investigation.) The parents say the
investigation was botched from the start because the provincial police
assumed the girls were runaways.

The provincial police won’t discuss the case. Const. Steve Lalande will
say only that police are doing “everything humanly possible”_to find the
girls.

And while that force says the girls ran away, Kitigan Zibi police say they
have no such evidence.

“We didn’t really want to commit (to saying that they were) runaways right
away,” explains Kitigan Zibi Police Chief Gorden McGregor. “They (the
Surete du Quebec) felt that the information that they had — which is the
same as ours — they felt that they were able to commit to that notion.”

Maisy’s mother, Laurie Odjick, says there was no ground search in the days
after the girls went missing, for example, and it took police more than a
month to seize the girls’ computers.

McGregor understands the families’ frustration, but says there has never
been anything solid to investigate.

“We’re dumbfounded.”

Jurisdictional questions only add to the confusion: Maisy is registered to
the Kitigan Zibi band; Shannon is Inuit and not registered to the band.
Maisy’s mother says every time she asked the provincial police for
updates, they referred her to reserve police.

At the outset, the girls’ files were kept apart, even though they went
missing from the same place and were believed to be together. Kitigan Zibi
police took Maisy’s file, while the provincial force had Shannon’s.

McGregor insists this was only the case with paperwork; police
collaborated from the start.

“No matter what: We open up a file on Maisy; they open up a file on
Shannon. We still work together on the file,” he said. In any case, after
a couple of months, the files were formally joined.

Shannon’s father, Bryan Alexander, believes the provincial police wanted
to wash their hands of the case so they gave it to the Kitigan Zibi police
— a community force of eight officers.

“This happened in town, not on the reserve. They don’t care if a million .
. . Indians go missing,” he said,

echoing the criticism that has been made of police forces across the
country in what advocates say are hundreds of missing and murdered women
cases.

The circumstances surrounding when the girls were last seen are not
entirely clear. Alexander says that on Friday, Sept. 5, 2008, he left the
teens at his home — just outside the reserve in Maniwaki — and went to
Ottawa for the weekend to help his son paint his apartment.

Later that day, the girls mowed the lawn at Maisy’s grandmother’s home.
When the work was done, Maisy announced plans to spend the night at
Shannon’s house.

Later that evening, the girls hung out with friends in a park, across the
street from the Polyvalente high school, where a dance was being held. A
15-year-old boy who was with the girls that night says the girls claimed
they’d just smoked crack. He thought they might be joking, though they did
seem drunk or high.

At some point between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., Shannon got into a fight with a
boy in the group. Shortly after, Shannon and Maisy left together — the
last anyone saw of the girls.

Maisy’s Facebook account was last active at 10:31 p.m. that night.

When Alexander returned from Ottawa on Monday, the girls were nowhere to
be found.

On Tuesday, Alexander called police. He’d assumed you had to wait 24 hours
to file a missing person’s report.

Four days passed between the last sighting of the girls and that first
contact with the police.

• Shannon’s story

Bryan Alexander raised his daughter alone. He explains that his wife, a
crack addict, left when Shannon was about a year old. The father and
daughter lived in Ottawa until Shannon was about six, moved to Hull, then
settled in Maniwaki, where they have family.

As a child, Shannon enjoyed the outdoors where she and her father would
ride three-wheelers or go fishing.

In her later teens, she grew argumentative and angry. After a fight with
her principal, she quit school.

Sixteen at the time, her father says she enrolled at the adult education
centre the following day. While attending night school, she struggled
unsuccessfully to find work. She tried grocery stores, restaurants,
tobacco shops.

“My daughter’s not stupid,” Alexander says, “she just looks native.” She
became increasingly frustrated.

Almost two years before she disappeared, Shannon decided to find her
mother. Although warned she might not like what she found, she took a bus
to Ottawa and found her mother in a crack house. “She flipped out” and was
never the same, he says.

Alexander is himself a former crack addict who struggles with alcoholism.
He says he attends AA and NA meetings and hasn’t smoked crack since his
daughter’s birth. He knows he wasn’t always the best father, but says he
gave his daughter everything she needed.

Alexander says his daughter would sometimes leave home for a few days, but
not without calling or leaving a note. She spent some months in a foster
home at some point in the past few years, but he isn’t clear on the
details.

At the time of her disappearance, Shannon was completing her last high
school math credit and was enrolled in a nursing college in Mont-Laurier,
where she planned to move.

• Maisy’s story

Laurie Odjick still remembers the day Maisy, the first of her four
children, was born. “She was the hardest labour,” she says with a teary
smile. “She was always thinking she could do things on her own.”

Maisy became an independent and rebellious teen who fought with her mother.

Almost a year before she disappeared, Maisy dropped out of school. Laurie
knew Maisy was experimenting with marijuana and alcohol.

At 16, Maisy moved in with her 18-year-old boyfriend, an arrangement that
lasted about a month. She next moved in with her grandmother.

Maisy’s grandmother convinced her to try to finish high school. She had
re-enrolled at Maniwaki’s adult education centre and was scheduled to
resume her studies days before she disappeared.

Maisy made no secret of her desire to get away from Kitigan Zibi. She
often spoke about moving back to the Saugeen Shores-Port Elgin, Ont. area,
where she lived from 2003 to 2006, and where she still has friends and
family.

In any case, Laurie says, Maisy would have taken her favourite possessions
— family photos, and her camera, clothes and jewelry.

Laurie Odjick has been vocal and proactive in her hunt for answers. With
the help of her sister-in-law, Maria Jacko, Odjick has organized searches
and raised $12,000 in reward money. Every month she sends posters of Maisy
and Shannon to women’s shelters across the country.


3b) Missing Girls Believed to be Alive: Police Search Focuses on Ontario
Ottawa Citizen; Thursday, September 3, 2009


Neco Cockburn

Investigators believe two native girls missing for a year from the
Maniwaki area are alive, although it has been several months since they
received a tip regarding the girls’ whereabouts. Maisy Odjick, 17, and
Shannon Alexander, 18, have been missing from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg
First Nation-Maniwaki area since Sept. 6, 2008. Their disappearance was
reported a few days later. Police have turned their search efforts to
Ontario, since most tips received involved potential sightings in Ottawa,
Kingston and Saugeen Shores on Lake Huron, where Odjick has family.
Investigators hoped a news conference Thursday marking the anniversary of
the disappearance will result in more tips, since none have been received
for about eight months.

“It’s certainly not a cold case. It’s always been active,” said Chief
Gorden McGregor of the Kitigan Zibi Police Department, which is
investigating with Ontario Provincial Police and Sûreté du Québec.

McGregor said as tips have slowed down, the search has been scaled back in
order to save resources in his department, which has eight officers,
including the chief. At one time, the file was handled full-time by one of
McGregor’s officers, but the officer is now working the case on a
part-time basis, with as many as eight Sûreté du Québec officers,
depending on the information received, McGregor said. Other forces,
including Ottawa police, have been contacted to look into possible
sightings, and OPP joined the case in October, after a potential sighting
was reported in Saugeen Shores. Hundreds of tips were received and
followed up, according to investigators. However, none of the sightings
has been confirmed. The tips indicated that the girls were seen together,
said Capt. Jacques Piché of the Sûreté du Québec. Piché said there is no
information to suggest that the girls are not alive. Nor is there evidence
of an abduction, he said.

“We have no proof in that sense, so we are considering this case as a
disappearance. We are not eliminating anything, we are covering all
bases,” said Piché .

OPP Det.-Insp. Chris Gilpin said it is “very unusual” for two girls to go
missing together, but “to not have contact with their families for long
periods of time, that does happen on occasion.”

The girls’ families have been frustrated by a lack of clues, as well as
the police response to the case. Maisy Odjick’s mother, Laurie Odjick,
attended the news conference and told reporters that officers could have
done more in the early stages of the investigation.

“From the beginning, from the very first press conference we had, they
were labeled as runaways,” she said. “I think that big label that was put
there made things a lot harder and a lot slower.”

Police did not look at family computers for six weeks, she said. During
the news conference, McGregor said it was three or four weeks before
police looked at the computers.

“We didn’t think about it at that time ... we were following up the tips
and stuff,” he said, adding there was no evidence of luring on the
computers.

Odjick has also questioned the co-ordination between the two police forces
that were initially involved in the case.

The Kitigan Zibi Police Department and the Sûreté du Québec opened
separate files because Maisy Odjick comes from the reserve and Alexander’s
home is in Maniwaki. McGregor said investigators from both forces worked
closely together from the start. “From the beginning, it was never a
question of jurisdiction. It was never a question of the colour of
uniform, the colour of the skin. It’s a matter of trying to find the
girls,” he said.

Maisy Odjick is six feet tall and 125 pounds, with brown eyes and black
hair. She has two piercings in her bottom lip and one in her left nostril,
and scars on top of her right eyebrow and left forearm.

Alexander is five-foot-nine, 145 pounds, with brown eyes and dark brown
hair. She has acne and pierced ears. She often wears a silver necklace
with a feather on it, and has a scar on her left knee.

A vigil for the girls will be held on the Kitigan Zibi reserve on Sunday
at 7 p.m. Anyone with information is asked to call the Criminal
Information Centre at 1-800-659-4264 or OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

ncockburn at thecitizen.canwest.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


3c) Families heartbroken 1 year after Quebec girls vanishedMaisy Odjig,
16, and Shannon

Alexander, 17, last seen Sept. 6, 2008

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 5:59 PM CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/09/02/maisy-odjig-shannon-alexander-missing-one-year-maniwaki.html



The disappearance of two teenage girls in Maniwaki, Que., one year ago has
left a
painful void in their families and their small Algonquin community.Maisy
Odjick, 16,
and Shannon Alexander, 17, were last seen on Sept. 6, 2008.A year later,
Odjick's

clothes, her flute, her camera and treasured photos are still where she
left them at
the home of her grandparents, where she usually stayed.

"I've kept everything the way it was when she left here, when she
disappeared 


hoping that she'll come home or that she'll call and let me know that
she's alive some-
where," her grandmother Lisa Odjick said, wiping tears from her cheeks.
"Not knowing
if she's alive or dead, that's the hardest thing."


Quebec provincial police declined to comment earlier this week about the
case, but they
were scheduled to hold a news conference about it in Ottawa with the
Ontario Provincial
Police on Thursday morning. At Lisa Odjick's cream-coloured bungalow on
the Kitigan Zibi

Anishnabeg First Nation reserve, about 145 kilometres north of Ottawa,
there is still a pillow
on the arm of the brown fold-out couch where Maisy slept, and her clothes
are still in the
white cupboard in the corner. Her family got a cake for her last birthday
and put gifts under

the tree for her at Christmas in case she came home, her grandmother
recalled.

"But she didn't come home. Now another birthday's coming up and she's
going to be 18, and
still no word," her grandmother sobbed. "And it's hard. It's so hard."On
Sunday, a march and

candlelight vigil will be held to commemorate the girls' disappearance,
organized by
Maisy's mother, Laurie Odjick. At an apartment in nearby Maniwaki, Shannon
Alexander's father Bryan said he has been waiting by the phone for months,
hoping

someone who knows the girls' whereabouts will call. "My whole family's
torn up," he said.

Lisa Odjick said nothing seemed amiss when she last saw Maisy, who was
heading out
to a dance with her friend on Saturday night."She was all happy when she
left here

with Shannon," Odjick recalled, saying the girls had only known each other
for a few
weeks but were already very close. Odjick asked Maisy to call on Sunday,
but grew
worried when she didn't hear from her. She went over to Bryan Alexander's
place,

where the girls had planned to spend the night. Alexander said he had
originally left
for the weekend to paint Shannon's brother's house, but returned a day early.

"I was spooked, there was no answer in the house," he said.He found the
doors locked and

the dog outside. Inside, the girls had left their purses, their wallets,
their identification,
their backpacks — even Shannon's medication. But the girls themselves
where nowhere to be
found.During the past year, the two families have heard rumours about what
might have

happened to the two girls — possible sightings in Ottawa and Montreal, for
example —
but neither the Quebec Provincial Police nor the Kitigan Zibi police have
reported much progress
in their investigations.


Nor have any substantial tips come in through a website set up by some
relatives in
an effort to find the girls, Laurie Odjick said. That is despite the fact
that the
public has donated close to $13,000 to reward anyone with information. In
May, a set

of bones was found near the reserve. Bryan Alexander said his mother
almost had a
heart attack when it was suggested they might belong to the two missing
girls. They
turned out to be animal remains.Both families have expressed
dissatisfaction with

the police investigation.Laurie Odjick said she organized the initial
searches for
the girls when police didn't."They never even offered to help," she alleged.

"Everything that has been done so far has been done by the family .
 I
don't think

it was high on their priority list."Odjick said police were slow to
investigate and
not thorough."There was no search team, there was no forensics team in that
apartment, there was no questioning of the parents," she said.She added
that there

was also jurisdictional wrangling that initially had the Quebec provincial
police
probing Shannon's disappearance and the reserve police probing Maisy's in
separate
files.

Police have said there is evidence that the girls ran away. However, last
fall they would not

rule out the possibility that the girls were taken against their will. The
girl's families believe the
girls were likely abducted. Both the Odjicks and Bryan Alexander pointed
to the fact that the
girls left with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, leaving behind
even their

identification and their most treasured possessions, such as Maisy's
photos of her
brother and sister."For her to leave without those, it's inconceivable to me,
because she took those everywhere with her," Lisa Odjick recalled.


The families have said in the past that the girls would sometimes leave
for a few days at a time.
But both girls also seemed happy and had not indicated any plans or
reasons to leave at
the time they disappeared, their families said. Shannon had been planning
to start

nursing school the month after she disappeared. Her father said he had
already paid
her tuition. In any case, the girls would have called if they could, their
families
said."My daughter would call me all the time," Bryan Alexander recalled.
"Even if

she ran away, she would call me: 'Daddy, I ran away, I'm just down the
road, I'm
over here.' Know what I mean? That's the type of girl she was. It didn't
matter if
she was across the street. If it was more than 10 minutes, she'd call
me."Laurie

Odjick said she hopes police are right and the girls did run away."''Cause
that
means they're still out there. But as a mom, it doesn't make sense 'cause
that's not
[like] my child."She said the hardest part is having to continue living
and working

and looking after her other kids as usual without knowing what happened to
Maisy."My
biggest fear 
 is that I might never know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



3d) Lament for a river lost

Guardian Weekly, Monday August 31st 2009
http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=1230&catID=17&CMP=EMCGUWEML120


In an extract from Le Monde, Nobel prizewinning writer Jean-Marie
Gustave Le Clézio writes on a nomadic Quebec tribe that is losing its
lifeblood.

In a few years the Romaine river, in the Canadian province of Quebec,

may be no more than a memory. The river is one of those wonderful places
that have survived on our planet despite all the ill-treatment meted out
by the industrial age. It is nearly 500km long, running from the Arctic

regions of Quebec to the Atlantic coast and into the Gulf of St
Lawrence. It crosses a range of natural habitats to feed into a vast
basin of lakes, rivers and rapids.

For as long as anyone can remember the river has been the preserve of

the Innu, a nomadic people known in Quebec as the Montagnais. The Innu
live in harmony with the river. In their eyes it is holy, linked to
their history and a prime source of game, fish, medicinal plants and
berries.


Hydro-Québec is a multinational corporation typical of modern
capitalism, with interests in Quebec and the US. It has begun work on
four dams along the Romaine to produce electricity for the US market.
The giant structures – some up to 200 metres high – will destroy much of

the river and the basin into which it flows. The forest will disappear.
The result will be rotting vegetation and a stifled ecosystem. In one
fell stroke the Innu nation will lose its homeland.

Provision for compensation has, of course, been made. With divisive

skill, Hydro-Québec has persuaded some of the Innu people to accept
compensation. It is only understandable, given the scale of the
undertaking and the colossal economic interests at stake, that some of
them should give up the struggle. What is the voice of the native

population against the strength of a multinational?

At least one Innu has not given up. The poet Rita Mestokosho, of the
Mingan community, is determined to continue the fight. She writes poems
for the river, and makes speeches explaining what it means for future

generations.

She speaks not only of humans but of animals and plants, all that
constitutes life in the world to which she owes everything, the world
that her people have always refused to possess, the better to share it.


She speaks of the river’s fragility, of the ecological disaster that
flooding the valley would represent, of the roads that would cut through
the forest around the construction. And she speaks of the fragility of

her people, for whom this project is a death sentence. If the Romaine
river does disappear, we would all lose something. To satisfy the
growing energy demands of the greediest parts of our planet, we
sacrifice a precious heritage.


But the voice of Mestokosho will still be heard:
    This word is a season
It is also the sound of the salmon
    in the fisher’s dream
Yet it swims vigorously with its last breath
    to release all that remains of its last journey


The little fruit will come too that my grandfather
    the bear awaits at a bend in the river
And feeding on the summer plenty its fat grows
    rich with the essence of life.
Myself, I draw the water that will cleanse my soul

    and my grandfather’s
The stones will guide my heart

• Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2008



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4) Requests for Letters and Signatures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


4a) Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on First Nations Child Welfare

Greetings:

Please review the call out below from Cindy Blackstock from the First
Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada.

Many of your unions joined in an earlier campaign initiated by this group
known as the Jordan's Principle. In part because of your support for that
campaign some positive legislative change was realized for aboriginal
children.

Today, your assistance is again needed. Please follow up by getting your
union to join this campaign.

As you may know the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on First Nations child
welfare will beginning in Ottawa on September 14, 2009

The "I am a witness campaign" calls on caring Canadians and people from
around the world to sign up to say they will witness the Canadian Human
Rights Tribunal which is reviewing a complaint that the federal government
discriminates against First Nations children by providing them with less
child welfare funding and benefit than other children receive.

Being a witness means you agree to follow the case by either attending at
the tribunal in person or following it through the media, visiting our
website -www.fncaringsociety.com. After you have heard all the facts
presented at the tribunal you will be in a good position to make up your
own mind about whether or not you feel the federal government is treating
First Nations children fairly.

Be amongst the first to sign up as a witness - it takes only two minutes,
is free and open to all organizations and individuals and please encourage
everyone in your circle to do so as well. A year after the apology for
residential schools we want the Canadian government to know that caring
Canadians are keeping watch over this generation of First Nations
children.

Here is the website - please do spend 2 minutes to sign up! Here is the
website http://www.fnwitness.ca

Thank you

Cindy Blackstock,

First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada

Suite 302, 251 Bank Street, Ottawa ON

Canada, K2P 1X3

Phone: 613-230-5885 ext 222

Fax: 613-230-3080

URL: www.fncaringsociety.com<http://www.fncaringsociety.com>

Email: cblackst at fncaringsociety.com<mailto:cblackst at fncaringsociety.com>

Please support Jordan's Principle at
www.fncaringsociety.com<http://www.fncaringsociety.com> and the
Attawapiskat School Campaign at
www.attawapiskat-school.com<http://www.attawapiskat-school.com>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4b) Groups call for comprehensive reform of Ontario’s outdated mining
laws: Courts being used to punish people who peacefully oppose mining
projects

There has been a request that IPSMO members and supporters send a letter
in response to the changes proposed for the Mining Act. The deadline was
last Friday, but we have been encouraged to keep writing them.

Ideas for comments (article on issue to follow):

Bill 173 should recognize the right to Free Prior and Informed Consent, as
indicated in the UN Declaration on the Rights. People might want to
elaborate on why they believe this to be the best option for reconciling
future land use with First Nations.

In order for consultation to be effective communities must not feel like
projects are a fore-gone conclusion and must have the ability to say no.

The ability of "Far North" communities to direct mining activities via a
community land-use planning process should also apply to communities in
the near north and south. This will be more complicated given the addition
of stakeholders that aren't present in north, however the current proposal
does not provide for fair and equal treatment of all First Nations (and
non-native communities) in Ontario.


Send all mail to:
Trevor Day, Committee Clerk
trevor_day at ontla.ola.org, miningact at ontario.ca
Room 1405, Whitney  Block Queen's Park,
Toronto, ON M7A 1A2
Telephone: (416) 325-3509
Fax: (416) 325-3505

Article

[A backgrounder, additional correspondence and further links can be found at:
http://www.miningwatch.ca/index.php?/Platinex_Inc/open_ltr_to_McGuinty]


Monday March 17, 2008 10:00 AM

TORONTO - With the Ontario legislature resuming sitting this week, over 30
groups and organizations are urging the government to overhaul its
outdated mining laws and policies. In an Open Letter to the Premier, a
wide range of social justice organizations, faith groups and environmental
groups express their deep concern that the Mining Act in Ontario is taking
precedence over human rights and ecological concerns.

Today, six members of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation
in northern Ontario were sentenced for contempt charges related to their
peaceful opposition to drilling for platinum on their traditional lands in
the Boreal Forest.

A few weeks earlier, Bob Lovelace, a university professor and spokesperson
for the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, was sentenced to six months
detention and fined $25,000, for opposition to uranium exploration on land
subject to a longstanding, unresolved land claim in Eastern Ontario. In
addition, the community was fined $10,000 and Chief Paula Sherman $15,000.
Other leaders of the uranium exploration protest including the
neighbouring Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation are being sentenced this week.
Throughout the uranium exploration protest, private property owners have
also been fighting exploration, and have organized into the Community
Coalition against Mining Uranium (CCAMU). CCAMU and others also support
the struggle of the Algonquins.

“We’re deeply concerned about the double standard at play in these cases.
On the one hand, individuals and communities are being punished to the
full extent of the law for doing what they feel is right,” says Craig
Benjamin, Campaigner for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Amnesty
International Canada. “On the other hand, the province is creating these
conflicts by ignoring their own legal responsibilities.”

“The ‘Free Entry system’ in Ontario means that mining supersedes all other
land uses including cultural and ecological values, and Indigenous rights,
” says Anna Baggio, Director of Conservation Land Use Planning of CPAWS
Wildlands League. “It’s time for the province to halt exploration and
staking and comprehensively reform its mining laws to protect the health
of Ontarians and its ecosystems,” Ms. Baggio adds.

The Open Letter to the Premier released today was signed by a wide range
of groups including: Amnesty International Canada, CPAWS Wildlands League,
MiningWatch Canada, Rainforest Action Network, Environmental Defence,
Canadian Friends Service Committee, Bedford Mining Alert, Earth Action,
Earthroots, Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium, ForestEthics,
Friends of the Earth, Council of Canadians, Christian Peacemaker Teams
Canada, David Suzuki Foundation and Ottawa Riverkeeper/Sentinelle
Outaouais.

The joint letter echoes concerns raised in an open letter to the Premier
from Grand Chief Stan Beardy of Nishnawbe Aski Nation. Grand Chief Beardy
states:

“Mr. Premier, the Mining Act of Ontario is antiquated and is being
politically and legally challenged. Ontario has agreed that it will review
and as appropriate amend the Mining Act
 It seems highly improper that a
First Nation community such as KI would be facing such dire consequences
when there is tacit admission by these very processes of Ontario that
something is amiss with the Mining Act and the legal obligations and
honour of Ontario to properly consult and accommodate First Nations and
their citizens.”

“We are outraged and so are the citizens of Ontario,” says Joan Kuyek,
National Coordinator of MiningWatch Canada. “The province must act before
further injustices are committed,” Ms. Kuyek adds.

For further information:
Anna Baggio, CPAWS Wildlands League, office 416-971-9453 ext 47; mobile
416-453-3285 email: anna at wildlandsleague.org
Beth Berton-Hunter, Amnesty International, 416-363-9933 ext 32 mobile
416-904-7158 email: bberton-hunter at amnesty.ca
Joan Kuyek, National Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada, office 613-569-3439,
cell 613-795-5710 joan at miningwatch.ca