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Aboriginal protesters and their supporters have agreed to end their blockade of a uranium mining site north of Kingston.
Robert Lovelace, who is of Algonquin descent and is a spokesman for the group, said the move is a show of good faith after the Ontario government’s agreement to 12 weeks of mediation in search of a solution. “The direct action was important and I think very successful,” Mr. Lovelace said yesterday of the protest, which began in early summer.
The Algonquins, most of whom are not status Indians under the Indian Act, have been blocking a uranium-exploration company called Frontenac Ventures from accessing land the company says it purchased legally.
The protesters will maintain a presence at the site, but will allow Frontenac on the land – providing there is no drilling.
The 12 weeks of talks will include two area Algonquin communities, the company and the province. The federal government has also been invited to attend.
The Algonquins argue that because they have never signed a treaty with the Crown, they have never surrendered their traditional lands. Those lands include the watershed of the Ottawa River, taking in the entire capital region.
Residents who live near the site – which is about 60 minutes north of Kingston, near Sharbot Lake, Ont. – have joined the blockade to stop any possibility of a uranium mine in the area.
In August, Mr. Justice Gordon Thomson of the Ontario Superior Court authorized police to arrest the demonstrators but the OPP has not acted on that injunction.