Mohawks: 'Chernobyl' in the making at Sharbot Lake

CANADA’S VERY OWN “ CHERNOBYL ” NUCLEAR
DISASTER IN THE MAKING AT SHARBOT LAKE
JUST NORTH OF KINGSTON ONTARIO .

Mohawk Nation News
July 14, 2007

The standoff over uranium mining
at Sharbot Lake just north of Kingston Ontario is not a
conflict between “natives and non-natives” as the
Globe and Mail suggests. The dispute is between the
Indigenous landowners and the mining companies and
their colonial government puppets.

Non-natives who want a peaceful and healthy future for
their children are rallying in support of the Indigenous
owners of the land. In this instance nobody with any
sense is supporting uranium mining and the kind of
activities that turns the earth into a toxic waste dump.
In the past week Highways 509 and 7 were blocked to
protect our lands and the Ottawa/Mississippi rivers
watersheds from radioactive contamination.

A mysterious private company called “Frontenac
Ventures Corporation” FVC has been trespassing
on our land so it can extract our resources.

Frontenac is a “private” company that develops
uranium properties in Canada . Their website has
three paragraphs with no names, addresses, phone
numbers or links for more information. It states they
operated “four mines between 1957 to 1964 in that
area which produced 15 million pounds of uranium
from pegmatite ore”. Open pit mining is one of their
favorite methods. They presently have 400 claims
for almost 8,000 hectares on Algonquin territory. They
also have claims on property occupied by non-native
cottagers who feel totally voiceless. According to their
website Frontenac plans “to start aggressive exploration
and development immediately”. The main settler
opposition is associated with the “Green party” which
is gearing up for the Ontario provincial election. Their
focus is to change the “Ontario Mining Act” and are using
this issue for their own ends.

Frontenac's board is made up of:

Dr. K. Sethu Raman, former Vice-President of “Campbell
Chibougamau Mines” and “Royex Gold Group of Companies”
(now “Barrrick Gold”);
George White at 613-479-2936, the front man (who looks
something like Mr. Burns of “The Simpsons”, the owner
of the nuclear reactor that Homer works at), former
vice-president and general manager of “Westburne
Industrial Enterprise Limited” that distributes oil and gas
all over Turtle Island;
William J. Radvak is co-founder of “Response Biomedical
Corporation” which develops and commercializes rapid
“immunoassay diagnostic” tests;
Anthony Deweth previously of the private banking sector
of “CIBC Wood Gundy”; and Doris Meyer, former
vice-president and financial officer of “Queenstake” which
negotiated the acquisition of the “Jerritt Canyon Mine” in
Nevada and other publicly traded mining companies. Her
own company is “Golden Oak Corporate Services”.

Does anyone have any information on how these colonial
exploitation companies treat Indigenous people in the other
“ventures” they’re been involved in?

Frontenac is being “reverse” bought out by "Sylvio Ventures"
to be traded on the "Ventures Exchange Sector" of the Toronto
Stock Exchange. This means that the rules for scrutinizing
their activities is less stringent than a publicly traded company.
They plan to form a new company “Amalco” which will be a
wholly-owned operating subsidiary of Sylvio. The corporate
veil cannot be pierced. You can only sue the company which
could be just a front. If there’s trouble the corporation dissolves
itself and no one can be sued except for personal guarantees
and illegal activities which are hard to prove.

It appears that besides mining uranium, they are trying to make
a profit by creating nuclear weapons and other instruments
of mass destruction in violation of international law.

Frontenac and their cohorts are furious that the Algonquins are
denying them access to our land, minerals and the site to dig
our uranium and make their bombs. George White even called
us “eco terrorists” even though there hasn’t been one incidence
of violence, except for the mosquitoes and deer flies that are
wicked this year!

George White of Frontenac is concerned that the situation is
similar to Niger in Africa where companies use armed security
to carry out theft of resources there. Yes, George, your project
is similar to Niger . A foreign corporation is taking somebody
else’s resources and the bandits need armed forces to get
away with it. In the meantime the land is being devastated and
making it uninhabitable for good.

The Ontario government is developing nuclear power that
could create the same kind of devastation that happened at
“ Chernobyl ” in the Ukraine . The Soviet Union thought they
had the greatest energy generating facility in the world. They
did not foresee the catastrophic explosion of the nuclear
plant in 1986 that killed thousands of people and destroyed
the land for thousands of years. This once beautiful part of
the Ukraine was turned into a waste land that will not be safe
to live on for hundreds of years. It was the worst accident in
the history of nuclear power. The fall-out drifted over western
Soviet Union, Europe and eastern Turtle Island . It exposed 6.6
million people to radioactivity. The number of deaths that
resulted cannot yet be told. It affected rivers, lakes, reservoirs,
ground water, fauna and vegetation and continues to cause
grass and forest fires.

Frontenac has been ground to a halt. Frontenac, Mining
Resource Engineering Limited MREL, Ministry of Natural
Resources, Department of National Defense, Indian Affairs
and the Ontario government are uninvited crooks who
sneaked into Sharbot and Ardoch Lakes without telling the
Algonquin people. It is being done for the benefit of private
shareholders and investors who want to profit from the
theft of our resources that we never surrendered.

Private corporations like Frontenac are not listed on the
stock exchange. We cannot find out who the real owners
are. They could be a front for secret investors. They appear
to have something to hide. There is a legal separation between
the private investors and the corporation. In this case it is
almost impossible to pierce the corporate veil and get at the
scoundrels who hide behind such corporations. Let’s take
that veil off.

Only the federal or provincial environment ministries can
chose to become involved in their activities. The corporation
can act secretly without regard for the welfare, laws, elders and
future generations of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.
Should a catastrophe happen they could declare bankruptcy
and disappear. No one will ever know who the secret culprits
were. Even if they’re caught, found to be negligent or
criminal and the company is charged, a judgment could go
in their favor against us.

On the other hand, a “public” company is highly regulated
and has to tell the shareholders what they’re doing.

The Algonquins are sovereign and independent who never
surrendered their lands. They are not part of Canada because
they never agreed to join the colonial state and come under
the “Indian Act”. They remain independent under their own
traditional law and the rules of international law apply.

Should a squatter build a house on your land, they would be
trespassing. Even if a buddy of theirs gave them the rights
or deed. At Sharbot and Ardoch Lakes neither Canada nor
Ontario has legal jurisdiction to grant mining licenses to
Algonquin territory and resources. It’s trespass and theft.

Indian Affairs usurped Indigenous sovereignty by declaring
themselves as the “trustees” that these foreign agencies
have to deal with. Indian Affairs pretends that we and our
lands are under their jurisdiction. They don’t want anyone
to deal directly with us under our laws.

In the Guerin and Sparrow decisions, the Supreme Court of
Canada found that the Crown has a fiduciary obligation to
act in our best interests. Indian Affairs has notoriously
breached this duty.

On top of this breach, they allow foreign interests to conduct
munitions manufacturing, target practice and experimentation
which is devastating and destroying our land. Uranium
tailings are being made into nuclear bombs. Under international
law it is illegal to use weapons of mass destruction or to even use
force to solve disputes. We don’t know why these guys are
making weapons that cannot be used legally. This must be
why they are keeping their operations a big secret. It takes
10,000 years for uranium to lose its “half life”. That’s over 500
generations from now.

Non-natives formed the “Community Action Coalition Against
Mining Uranium” to raise money for food and other necessities.
The three issues the Algonquins are facing are: unsettled
colonial claims to our land; colonists are giving permission for
foreign entities to stake claims to our unsurrendered land and
resources; and the danger of uranium mining.

Journalists are worried about being fired if they write the truth.
The mining activities and nuclear experimentation is so
dangerous that it is putting the lives of the public at stake.

It freezes our mind to think of the consequences. We have to
help the Algonquins at Sharbot and Ardoch Lakes . Write your
members of parliament, the prime minister and the international
community. Ask who has bought off the government and why?
Is any amount of money gained in one lifetime worth jeopardizing
the lives of humans for 10,000 years to come?

We are demanding “No uranium mining whatsoever”. The Big
Trout Lake and Nishnabe Aski and three other Indigenous
communities have declared an indefinite moratorium on uranium
mining and they’re enforcing it. The Algonquin’s Coalition is
waiting for the September negotiations with the Ontario government!!!
The fighters are getting tired and need your help immediately.
[To help contact: Chief Paula Sherman 613-279-1970
http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=paulasherman@trentu.ca; Bob Lovelace at 613-374-5598,
Cell 613-532-2166; Harold Perry 613-479-5534; Lynn Daniluk
613-268-2746 Cell 614-267-0539; Ormond Lee of the settler
committee 613-267-7584].

In the meantime George White of Frontenac sits on his wicker
chair at his cottage waiting for us to get tired and leave.

[For more information contact: Explosives Regulatory Division,
Natural Resources Canada http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=inspector@nrcan.gc.ca Phone
613-948-5200.] [[MREL Bill Bauer Phone 613-545-0466 (111)
Cell 613-530-0777 http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=bbauer@mrel.com]. [Prime Minister
Stephen Harper http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=harper.s@parl.gc.ca] [Anyone else you can
think of to stop this madness.]

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

See: “ Canada ”
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/news/news4.php?en=en&layout=mnn&category=27&srcurl=%2Fnews%2Fnews3.php%3Flang%3Den%26layout%3Dmnn%26sortorder%3D0