[IPSM] [Fwd: MORE Natives put in jail in Canada for protesting Mining!!]

[fiona at resist.ca]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: MORE Natives put in jail in Canada for protesting Mining!!
From:    "Bluejay Pierce" <bluejay at 3riversdbs.net>
Date:    Tue, March 18, 2008 6:31 am




      Aboriginal affairs minister 'won't give up' after chief jailed over
mining dispute

      THUNDER BAY, Ont. - The Ontario government won't give up trying to
find common ground between an exploration company and a remote
northern Ontario First Nation despite the sentencing of an
aboriginal chief and five other members to jail on contempt of court
charges, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant said Monday.

      The six members of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First
Nation - including Chief Donny Morris and Deputy Chief Jack MacKay -
were sentenced to six months in jail after ignoring an injunction
which allowed Platinex to start drilling on traditional aboriginal
territory.

      The sentences come two weeks after Bryant tried - and failed - to
resolve the dispute. But Bryant said he's not giving up trying to
negotiate an agreement.
      "I certainly feel as if the government did its best to avoid
incarceration," said Bryant, adding he knew the six activists were
resigned to go to jail.

      "But I don't think we should be afraid to insert ourselves to try
and facilitate something simply because the result might not be
exactly what we want. There is no way to succeed without trying. I
tried and I'm going to keep on trying."

      Last December, Superior Court Justice Patrick Smith found the six
members of the KI First Nation in contempt of a court order dated
Oct. 25, 2007.
      That order had allowed Platinex, a junior exploration company, to
proceed with the first phase of its drilling project and prevented
KI members from impeding, interfering or obstructing company access
to the exploration property near Big Trout Lake, which is not on the
KI reserve but is on their traditional lands.

      "KI has repeatedly and publicly stated its defiance of the order of
this court and has stated that it will continue to disobey any court
orders allowing Platinex or its representatives to enter onto the
property," Smith said in his reasons for sentencing.

      "To allow a breach of an order of this court to occur with impunity
by one sector of society will inevitably lead to a breach by others
or to the belief that the law is unjustly partial to those who have
the audacity or persistence to flout it.

      "If two systems of law are allowed to exist - one for the
aboriginals - the rule of law will disappear and be replaced by
chaos. The public will lose respect for, and confidence in, our
courts and judicial system."

      Councillors Cecilia Begg, Darryl Sainnawap, Samuel McKay, Enus McKay
and Evelyn Quequish and committee member Bruce Sakakeep were the
others receiving jail terms.

      Smith imposed suspended sentences on Quequish and Enus McKay, who
gave an undertaking to the court that they will obey future orders
of the court.
      The judge said a jail term was the only appropriate penalty, and he
cited several precedent cases, including one last month involving
Ardoch Algonquin First Nation Co-chief Robert Lovelace, who received
a six-month jail term and a fine.

      Smith said he did not issue fines Monday because those jailed "lack
the ability" to pay.

      Nishnawbe Grand Chief Stan Beardy said the sentencing is a message
that the Ontario government is getting tough on First Nations.

      "The McGuinty government got labelled weak in dealing with
Caledonia, and now they say, 'We're not weak and we'll show you by
throwing these Indians in jail,"' Beardy said prior to the
sentencing.

      "What is happening here is we've been criminalized for practising
our way of living. The government wants to make an example of us.

      "What's being done is, once more, we're being moved out of the way,
our valuable resources are being exploited and everybody is
benefiting except us."

      NDP Leader Howard Hampton called the jail sentence a "travesty." The
chief and council of the First Nation shouldn't be going to jail
because the province failed to live up to its constitutional
responsibility, he said.

      "If First Nation leaders are going to be sent to jail then those two
ministers should be tendering their resignations," said Hampton,
referring to Bryant and Northern Development Minister Michael
Gravelle.

      KI lawyer Chris Reid said the provincial government has the power to
negotiate land-use planning and to consult with First Nations before
approving mineral exploration on their lands.

      "They simply refused to do that," Reid said.

      "They've acted like the only interests that matter in Ontario are
those of the mining companies, and everything else has to get out of
the way.

      "This whole thing is being driven by greed - the greed of a few
individuals in the mining industry. And the government of Ontario
appears to be right in their pockets."

      Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse said jailing aboriginals who
are fighting for their constitutional rights is not the answer.

      "It's sad that the court system is where these decisions about our
rights are being dealt with," he said.

      "The court system is the least appropriate place to deal with
complex reconciliation issues."

      Platinex lawyer Neil Smitheman also said he was saddened the dispute
had to be resolved in court.

      "We're hopeful and have been hopeful for the longest time that
Platinex and KI could get past their differences and work together
for the benefit of the community and company," he said.

      A Platinex spokeswoman said the company will be making a statement
later this week on the court decision.

      http://canadianpress. google.
com/article/ALeqM5iy_mElCpRTPXhMJN_ic9offGH18Q

      ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

      Aboriginal activists sentenced over mining dispute

      Canwest News Service


      Monday, March 17, 2008


      THUNDER BAY, Ont. - An Ontario Superior Court judge has sent seven
aboriginal protesters to jail for contempt of court after they
ignored a court order to stay away from a disputed mining area in
northwestern Ontario.
      On Monday, Judge Patrick Smith sentenced Chief Donny Morris of the
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation and six council members
each to six months in jail. The First Nation community is located
about 1,000 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

      The dispute is over the company Platinex mining in an area the First
Nation claims is their ancestral land.

      The councillors defied an Oct. 25 court order to stay away from the
mining area near Big Trout Lake. The chief claims his community has
gone bankrupt because of the $500,000 they say they have paid in
legal fees defending a lawsuit launched by Platinex.

      "The province of Ontario needs to develop policies that support
partnerships involving First Nations in harvesting natural
resources," said Deputy Grand Chief Hare in a release Monday.

      Ontario's Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant said an offer
from the McGuinty government is still on the table that would see
the province pay $200,000 to the KI Nation for their legal fees and
see concessions from Platinex.

      "There is a solution available. Someone needs to reach out and grab
it," Bryant said Monday.

      © Canwest News Service 2008
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