No Uranium Mining on Algonquin Land:
A Brief Look at the Struggle Against Uranium Mining in the Ottawa River Watershed      
IPSMO is a working group of OPIRG-Carleton.

Just over two weeks ago, Robert Lovelace, a former chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation was admitted into Kingston penitentiary for a six month sentence for violating court orders. But what was it that drove him to disobey prior court rulings?

Fifteen years ago, what are now known as the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan began a land claims process to negotiate the terms for 36 000 square kilometers of traditional lands, including Ottawa. Some of this land was signed away in 1772 to the Mississauga chief Mynass to the British, but none of it was ever ceded by Algonquins themselves.

The land includes much of the 5 000 hectares staked by Frontenac Ventures Corporation purchased from the Ontario government for the purposes of exploration for uranium, which began last October. In Ontario, the exploration stage for a mine allows the removal of up to 1000 tonnes of rock, and drilling 100m deep holes without an environmental assessment. Drilling into the 'swiss cheese-like’ bedrock of the region will disturb underground aquifers. This will pollute clean well water for residents of the area with thorium, a toxic element from the decay of uranium isotopes. Due to the low concentration of uranium in the region, open pit mining, one of the most environmentally destructive methods, is necessary. As contained air pockets are disrupted, radon gas (a dangerous carcinogen) leaches to the surface. The effects of this mining last well beyond seven generations: the waste remains radioactive for longer than 50,000 years.

"The effects of this mining last well beyond seven generations:
the waste remains radioactive for longer that 50,000 years."

Maintaining a harmonious relationship with the land base is of great importance to Algonquins, and as such, ecological harm done by uranium mining stands as a threat to their physical and cultural survival. In an effort to ensure the continued health of their land and people, members of the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquins, along with non-Native allies, occupied the proposed Robertsville mine site to prevent sample drilling. They remained even after a court injunction ordered people off the land at the behest of Frontenac Ventures Corporation. Frontenac then attempted to sue the Algonquin groups for $75 million in “project losses.”