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OTTAWA—Prospectors hoping to make the case for a multimillion-dollar uranium mine north of Kingston are furious that their access to the site is being denied by Eastern Ontario Algonquins.
But the Algonquins appear to be winning the battle for local public opinion, attracting a growing number of non-natives to rallies against the mining project.
Two weeks after the June 29 Day of Action, the dispute is turning into the latest test for governments and the Ontario police in managing a standoff between natives and a non-native business.
The Ontario government has put a renewed focus on nuclear energy as a key part of future plans to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. A company called Frontenac Ventures has staked out thousands of acres and was about to commence sample drilling when two non-status Algonquin communities, Sharbot Lake and Ardoch Lake, joined forces to block access to the land in support of their claim that it belongs to them.
Over the past two weeks, they have maintained a protest blocking a road into the site, and intermittently marched on Highways 509 and 7 to raise awareness of their campaign. The Algonquins and their supporters say their aim is to protect traditional native lands and area drinking water from radioactive contamination. They also note that the land is part of the Ottawa River watershed, meaning any accidents could contaminate the drinking water of the nation’s capital.
The president of Frontenac Ventures, George White, said the protesters’ environmental warnings are wildly inaccurate. He also said he’s frustrated that the Ontario Provincial Police have told him he will be arrested if he attempts to go back to the prospecting site on which his company has already invested millions, and had obtained permits for its operations.
“What message this brings [for] any investor looking to invest in Ontario [is that] it’s similar now to Niger, where you have to hire armed guards to protect your rights. That’s the message that the OPP is sending,” he said.
Mr. White also pointed out that one of the Algonquin leaders, Ardoch Lake co-chief Randy Cota, is an OPP constable at the local detachment. Mr. Cota and the OPP both insist that Mr. Cota’s work as co-chief is separate from his police work and is done in his private time.
Unlike virtually all other tribes east of British Columbia, the Algonquins never signed a treaty to extinguish their land rights in exchange for reserves and services. The Ardoch Lake and Sharbot Lake Algonquins who are protesting are mostly non-status aboriginals who do not have Indian Act reserves.
The Algonquins and provincial and federal governments are negotiating a comprehensive land claim, but those talks have dragged on for several years.
Constable Neil Fennell of the OPP’s Sharbot Lake detachment confirmed that Frontenac Ventures and anyone else wishing to enter the disputed lands have been warned that they would be charged with breaching the peace.
When asked why the OPP does not view the actions of the Algonquins as breaching the peace, Constable Fennell said he was limited in what he could say.
“We’re there to maintain the peace and at this point in time, the process is unfolding in a peaceful manner and we hope that that continues,” he said.
Paula Sherman, the other co-chief of Ardoch Lake, said the protests are bringing natives and non-natives in the community together.
“We’ve been flooded with phone calls and e-mails [from] people who are in support of stopping this uranium mine from going through,” she said.
In addition to non-natives, Ms. Sherman said, some of the marches have been attended by the Haudenosaunee Mohawks of the Six Nations communities in Southern Ontario and the northern United States. Mohawks and Algonquins have a history on the land that overlaps.
An official with the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines said a meeting is being scheduled for next week to bring all sides together and discuss the conflict.
Federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice’s spokeswoman, Deirdra McCracken, said the dispute is primarily an issue for Ontario.
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