9 posts tagged “moratorium”

I had a fabulous sleep last night.  It was a quiet morning and I took time to speculate at how surprised and pleased I am to be ‘weathering’ so well.  I suspect others are feeling similar feelings.  Going in, I imagined that by the end of a full month, I’d be in far rougher shape than I am, energy/strength-wise.  Could it be that I continue to hold up so well because what I am doing here feels/is ‘right’ and, in conjunction with the efforts of others, the path remains clear.

Having internet service has definitely changed the look of my day.  I only spent about four hours outside today, compared to the usual 14 or more.  On the up side, the time was spent networking, mostly with radio stations across Ontario, and on an interview with Global TV.  They will air tomorrow night at 5:30 on Shawn Mallin’s show (I’ve likely spelled that incorrectly).  A positive response has quickly come back from radio-ecoshock, where they have already planned to speak with Jim Harding, author of  Uranium – Canada’s Dirty Secret, and will add a bit on our struggle here.

I neglected to mention that we had an unusual guest at the site last night.  Her (new) name is Mori (short for moratorium) and she is a feline, about 5 months old, mostly grey in colour, with very short hair.  Incredibly thirsty and hungry, she was inclined to devour the single can of dog food that I found, but, to give her stomach a chance to stretch, we fed her in little bits.  (That’s how we’ll be feeding me one of these days.)  I’m not sure whether she is lost or has been dropped off.  We’ve had a cat food donation and she is gradually getting her fill. Personality wise, she is a charmer. One of our MELT OPP officers has already fallen in love and I suspect that Kassia, Zephyr and Taegan will too when they visit on Wednesday.  We’ll wait to see if someone shows up to claim her before doing anything drastic.  Meanwhile, she is a lovely mascot for the site.

Today’s visitors included a couple of ladies who have been very active in Ottawa and in Carleton Place.  One, a member of Ottawa CCAMU, has written a newsletter and distributed 200 copies, with more to come.  I didn’t realize it when she visited, but she’s also responsible for the red ‘no uranium’ bumper stickers that you may have spotted.  The other has sent numerous handwritten letters to the Premier, the Prime Minister and various ministries and has had her ‘letter to the editor’ published in several area newspapers.  She’s planning to invite friends, feed them (potluck?) and have a letter writing party at her home.  This is an excellent idea for others to entertain and to spread around.  Maybe we could do it from here at some point, now that we have a nice warm spot to work from.   If you can join us at the ‘sit-in/picket’ at Premier McGuinty’s office on Friday, Nov 16th, throughout the day, how about handwriting a letter to deliver in person.

Scott Reid’s office called tonight and he will be out for a visit on Wednesday morning.  Scott is the MP (Conservative) in this riding and I’ve a personal connection to him, through Mike.

Blessings
Donna (and Mori – she enjoys ‘helping’ me type by walking over top of the keyboard)

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the days pass here on the side of the road.  Between boiling water, squeezing lemons, greeting visitors, keeping warm, making and tending fires, giving interviews (phone and in person), the time just flies by.

Today we were videotaped and interviewed by two students doing a paper on conflict for a course at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa and by a writer from a bi-monthly publication in the Killaloe area.

One of our MELT (Major Events Liason Team) OPP Officers was kept busy mediating over whether hunters would be allowed inside the gate for their annual hunt.  The issue is one of safety.  I’m personally fine with it so long as the hunters remain aware that there are people on this side of the gate.

One of our overnight guests, joining us for his first visit, came from Kingston bearing gifts of flour, oat flakes, rice, sugar, propane and organic chocolate bars.  It was debated as to whether the bars could be juiced but we decided that it likely wouldn’t fly.

News came that the twelve-week negotiation period will begin on Monday and that more news would be forthcoming at the community meeting to be held early tomorrow afternoon.  The campfire discussion this evening was stimulating, as is often the case.

If you have the annual Native Christmas gathering marked on your calendar, please change the date from Dec. 1st to the 2nd.  The hall had already been booked for the former date, hence the change.  Please do plan to attend; it should be quite a party.
Love
Donna

The sun rose over another quiet day on the roadside.  We have been so blessed to have had so much sunshine during the (almost) month that I have been here.  And speaking of blessed, I had the opportunity to soak in a hot bath before an evening meeting.

Thanks for the firewood, the down comforter, another pair of cozy hand knit socks and the juice that was delivered today, as well as to all of those who visit once or often.  Thanks also to everyone who has responded to Mike’s emails, to those who are phoning and writing to us, to the government ministries and the Premier. I continue to be amazed and awed by the support this issue is receiving.

The interview on Perth radio (Lake 88.1) went very well and was aired on the noon news.  If you would like your radio station to cover the story, please advise them that I am available for telephone interviews at 613-279-1905.
Love
Donna

Another relatively quiet day on the home front, with a visitor from Hamilton taking the long distance prize.  (The only prize is mention here, of course.)  Mike came by and altered the phone set-up to insure that no calls are missed.  He spent the night and left today (Fri.) to give a talk in Toronto tonight.

Getting a solar charge on my laptop looks like a possibility at this point, after which time I’ll see about getting a dial-up service so that I can be more ‘in touch.’  If that happens, it will certainly change how my days look.

Blood pressure was down slightly today to 97/74, with pulse at 68.  Having felt tired earlier than usual, I’m grateful to have the warm trailer to put my feet up in as the ‘need’ arises.  As much as I’ve learned to love the great outdoors over this time on the side of the road, it’s is also nice to have a cozy place to welcome visitors.

News came that radio station Lake 88.1 in Perth will air an interview at 12:05 p.m. on Fri.  As well, someone from ‘As it Happens’ is looking to connect.  There’s a nice picture with Zephyr on the front page of this week’s ‘Frontenac News.’  The story that accompanies the pic is well written.  Many thanks to Jeff Green.

Rock and Soul

Janice Kennedy

The Ottawa Citizen

SHARBOT LAKE, Ont. - The lake country west of Perth, a landscape of clear waters and boreal forests, could be a postcard for the True North Strong and Free. On the road up from Highway 7 into the interior, its sides defined by crags and dark outcroppings, travel is not so much across the Canadian Shield as through it. Precambrian rock, old as time, holds the planet's secrets.

One of those secrets is uranium, the heavy-metal element that offers new power sources through nuclear reactors -- and the dark possibility of destruction, through weapons and radioactive pollution.

It is uranium's dark side that has a 53-year-old woman spending hard days and nights by the side of a county road in the area, stubbornly cold and without food. For 28 days now, Donna Dillman has been on a hunger strike.

"It was something I felt I could do," she says simply, explaining this particular protest. "It was an attention-getter." She plans to take no food until the provincial government declares a moratorium on uranium mining in Eastern Ontario.

Dillman's home these days is a roadside patch of the rugged terrain 12 kilometres north of Sharbot Lake. A stretch of gravel and grass, it is dotted with flags, temporary shelters and signs announcing that "Our spirits will not be broken." The site is outside gates opening on to more than 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) marked for uranium exploration and open-pit mining by Frontenac Ventures. Nineteenth-century provincial legislation allows the company to enter private and Crown land without permission and mine underground minerals -- like uranium, whose market popularity has skyrocketed in recent years.

The project exploded into controversy when a private landowner was outraged to discover last fall that Frontenac had staked some of his property and, subsequently, when the area's First Nations communities set up a blockade June 28. In a letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty, Chiefs Doreen Davis and Paula Sherman pointed out that the land is unceded Algonquin territory, and, "while we generally permit activities by non-Algonquins in our territory, and indeed welcome settlers and the development they bring, we cannot accept uranium exploration."

Their concerns are understandable. When released from the rock that encases it, radioactive uranium can contaminate both air and water. The tailings, pulverized rock left over after extraction, possess elevated concentrations of radioisotopes. They release radon gas into the atmosphere and seepage water contains radioactive material and other toxins. From the proposed mine area, that water would end up in the Mississippi River watershed and ultimately in Ottawa, where it could filter into the capital's water supply.

Frontenac Ventures, which says its extraction method is safer than earlier methods, claims its mine would have no measurable impact on an environment that already has plenty of natural uranium contamination.

Native protesters temporarily left the blockaded site two weeks ago to await the outcome of legal wrangling between them and the mining company. But Dillman is in for the long haul.

She has spent her nights in a sleeping bag inside a cramped camper van and, more recently, a hut. During the day, she walks about the small area or sits by a fire that warms shins and little else.

Even in the crisp sunshine of a late fall day, it is cold, with gusts of wind funnelling up the road to the site. This is the worst part of it, she says, this cold that penetrates her five layers of clothing and seems to come from both outside and in.

Matter-of-factly, she reports that she has headaches, sleeps poorly and gets dizzy if she stands or turns too quickly. To maintain her strength, she drinks herbal tea, juice and a concoction of maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper, which neutralizes stomach acid. She has dropped more than 12 pounds.

But she is awash in support. A nurse checks her every two days, and there are always people around to offer warm socks, fruit juice and companionship. From down the road, Hedy Muysson, 68, drops by three times a week. A former Torontonian who once worked with refugee children, she is profoundly opposed to uranium mining and hopeful about Dillman's protest.

"It has to work," she says. "There's no maybe about it. We can not have a mine here." The protest signs outside homes up and down the road echo her words. The Green Party, to which Dillman and her husband belong, has publicized her hunger strike, and leader Elizabeth May called her "inspirational."

Outside the area, and outside the environmentalist community, reactions to Dillman vary. Many are impressed by the obvious courage of her convictions, but others view her in a less kindly light.

She angers defenders of nuclear power and critics of newer alternative power sources, who see her position as unreasonable and extreme. She gets under the skin of people put off by the implied arrogance of her action, by the suggestion that one ordinary person should make a difference, by the maddening persistence of her self-denial, by her unspoken reproach to the comfortable. Some people just call her a flake.

"Hmm," she says, her smile wry. "I don't consider myself a flake. And I don't think what I'm doing is crazy. I'm here to make a statement."

Wife, mother of four, devoted grandmother, entrepreneur, all-round busy bee, Dillman lives a full, rich life she has no desire to endanger. Nor does she enjoy creating anxiety for her family who, she says, are torn about what she's doing, both proud and worried.

"But I believe in it. I wouldn't be able to keep going if I didn't."

Every second day, she writes Premier McGuinty, who has not yet responded. She wants him to know that uranium and nuclear energy are not benign. That area real estate values are being threatened. That the proposed mining project could endanger a million of his constituents, including family and friends in his home town of Ottawa.

Yes, she admits calmly, her politics and lifestyle probably belong to the "loony left." "But maybe it's time people started listening to the loony left. They've been saying things about cancer and asthma since the '60s, and it's all been proven to be true."

She met her current husband, environmentalist Mike Nickerson, at a 2002 Green Party convention. She has the gentle speech of the "alternative healer" she is in her other life. She practises reiki in the Lanark County home she shares with Nickerson and her youngest daughter.

But the strike and uranium fears transcend polarizing politics, she suggests. "We're doing this for our grandchildren. We could have the Band-Aid solution of power for 30 years, then we'd run out of uranium, too -- except we will have left a lot more hot spots behind and gene damage going into forever. It's not the legacy we want to leave, and I don't think it's the legacy McGuinty wants to leave."

She's willing to give an inch, though. If the government even announced an inquiry into a moratorium possibility, she'd start eating.

"Beyond that, I don't have an end date," she says, wind whipping her words, ancient rock beneath her feet.

"I'm here for the duration."

Janice Kennedy is a senior writer at the Citizen.

Settlers, the more the merrier, are invited to join the annual Christmas party put on by the Shabot Obaadjiwan at the Catholic Church (across from Timber Mart) on Hwy 38 at Sharbot Lake on December 1st at 1 o’clock.  There well be a short presentation on the sacredness of the land, followed by a feast (bring a desert if you are so inclined, but not to worry if you cannot).  If you are a man, please do bring a wrapped gift marked ‘man;’ if a girl age ten, mark your gift ‘girl - 10 years old.’  ‘Santa will be responsible for the distribution. This will be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the solidarity, the friendships and the extended community that has developed here over the months.

We, at the site are waiting patiently and with anticipation for the negotiations with the governments to begin.

Special thanks today for the pair of Alpaca socks received from a somewhat local lady.  They are so cozy and soft I’m almost tempted to use them to warm my hands.

I’m including the rest of the “What you can do when times get trying?” list.
Whatever you are able to accomplish is one more step in the right direction toward bringing sanity to a society that is dangerously close to the edge in terms of resource drawdown, climate disaster, pollution and waste.  While the train is traveling one way and some of us are out of our seats walking in the other direction, we must get the train stopped and turned around.  Enough of us, working together, can do that. We are on a roll.

At the Community Level:

* Support and invest in local initiatives/enterprises; buy locally - i.e. a 100-mile diet supports local farmers and producers; when buying from a distance, support fair trade initiatives; start a community garden; The more we do such things, the more adequate local provision will be when transportation costs become unaffordable.

* Invest in conservation, renewable energy, and in sustainable infrastructure - soil fertility; forest management; community cohesion, (festivals, craft and information fairs, block parent programs, community radio, theatre, etc.)

* Participate in your local community or intentionally bring people together to form community.

* Make your opinions known: Write letters to the editor of your local paper; expand your personal communication comfort zone to let others know that you see perpetual economic expansion (and specifically, in this case, uranium exploration and mining) as a recipe for calamity.  Letting people know that you question the current direction gives them permission to question it as well, thus building support.

*Support people and organizations that are leading the way; begin discussion groups in your home, church, school or community centre and invite speakers; donate your time, your energy and/or your money to the effort.

* Develop/participate in a community currency or trading system and encourage others to do so.

At the Government Level:

* Write, email or call your MP.   (For MP's contact information, call 1 (800) 622-6232 )
Let him/her know that you support:

- The Well-Being Measurement Act  www.SustainWellBeing.net/WBMA.html
The WBMA measures environmental and social factors in addition to economic ones,
i.e.: unpaid work; extracted resources, both renewable and non renewable; food quality; community stability; income distribution; education; pollution levels; quality of employment; amounts of exercise & stress; participation in decision making; levels of violence and more;

- The enactment of laws/subsidies that encourage sustainable activities and discourage non-sustainable activities;

- The formulation of a more equitable tax system, which draws revenue from pollution, natural resource use and speculation, while lowering or removing taxation from local businesses and low-income jobs;

- Full cost accounting; Extended producer responsibility; Proportional Representation;
Reigning in usury and, ultimately, adopting a monetary system that is not based on debt and the consequent need for perpetual growth.

Thank and Blessings,
Donna

People often ask what they can bring when they come visit.  At the top of the list would be a couple of armloads (or a trunk load) of dry seasoned hardwood.  If they have a juicer, and are so inclined, I always appreciate whatever juices come my way.  Interestingly, and without any coordinated effort, about a liter appears daily.  No fuss, no waste.

I’ve been asked if I do broths, smoothies, protein drinks and the like.  The answer is no.  My intake consists of 4 plus litres of water daily in the maple syrup/lemon juice/cayenne pepper mix and in herbal teas.  In an attempt to keep me internally warm, all my drinks are taken warm or hot.

I’ve also heard the comment, “But doesn’t a hunger strike, by its very nature, mean no nourishment what-so-ever?”  Not this one.  I believe ‘water only’ would not allow me to live to see a moratorium.  From the beginning I’ve recognized that the process of securing a moratorium is something that will take some time.  Consequently, I made the decision to go with what I am doing and to draw the line at smoothies, etc., which I consider food, as opposed to drink.

Some have wondered what I did before I became the hunger striking Gramma.  I am, as you likely know, a mother, grandmother and wife and I live(d) a half hour’s drive from the site - on the outskirts of Lanark.  My youngest daughter, who turns 18 on the 7th of November still lives at home.  For much of the last decade I’ve practiced and taught Reiki and done personal and spiritual growth counseling.  More recently and since his latest book has been published, Mike and I have spent the majority of our time planning itineraries and traveling the country educating what it takes to “Live on Earth as if we want to stay (which is the subtitle of his book).

In some ways what I am doing here is not a big leap from what I was doing every day.  I still write letters to ‘the editor,’ network with people who can help us get the message out, and contact media regularly.  The difference is that now, instead of being the support person while Mike is out front, I’m on the front line.  As intimidating as that is, the issue far outweighs any hesitation on my part.  Other differences include the lack of creature comforts we are all so accustomed to.  Surprisingly, no part of me misses any of those (warmth aside), possibly because I recognize that if we don’t, as a society, wake up to the reality of how we are abusing the very planet that sustains us, we are all in for some difficult times, that will make what I am doing here look like a picnic outing.

Thanks again for all you are all doing.  The letters to the premier are being noticed. Thanks to Lynn for editing my submissions.  She tells me that she has noticed some decline my ability to write in the last week. (Editor's note: She needs a bit more editing than usual.) Today’s highlight was a surprise Moon Ceremony, led by White Bear Woman.  Not being a Native myself, the experience was wonderful and powerful.

Blessings
Donna

It has been 3 weeks now since the hunger strike began and we still wait for a meaningful response from government;  the moratorium on exploration and mining of uranium in Eastern Ontario.  Please help to spread the word.  Deluge McGuinty's office with letters calling for the moratorium.  Fill e-mail boxes of politicians at all levels.  Tell your friends and neighbours to do the same.  Let the media know you're interested in this story and ask for coverage.  Download the bring gramma home graphic and make signs to post in your window, your car, your grocery store, your library.....
Help make this hunger stike count!  Thank you.

I awakened thinking about division and about how it keeps us apart from enjoyment and apart from love.  Rather, it keeps us in conflict - looking at the small picture.

So many things can divide us.  All of the ‘isms’ divide us, big and small differences divide us and attitudes divide us.  Where do these divisions come from?  They are not found in children, so we must learn them.  It’s my sense that fear of ‘the other;’ anyone who thinks/acts/lives differently then we do, is intentionally instilled in us to keep us divided.  Divide and conquer as it were.

If I am correct, then who and why?  As long as we are fighting each other, we don’t get involved in the things that will matter 7 generations from now, and those who control the monetary system (and the grand monopoly game) continue to prosper, knowingly or unknowingly, at the expense of the planet.  While the planet will ultimately heal, it is not clear that civilization, at least as we know it, will.

 

60% of babies, from the time they can lift their heads off of the carpet, are looking at a television set.  An annual advertising budget approaching the half trillion mark teaches us that we are not OK unless we have the best and latest gadget/clothing/toy, etc.  Induced ‘want’ ultimately results in judgment of ourselves and of others.

 

Next time you find yourself judging another individual or group, stop, dig deep, and consider whether what you are thinking/feeling is a result of corporate propaganda or your innate truth.  Answering the question for yourself could change your life.

 

 

In the situation we find ourselves in, I imagine that most people, if they think about it will get that disturbing the uranium found in the rock and the resulting radioactive waste is disastrous to the health and well-being of the planet and its inhabitants.  If they can let go of the judgments around who loses and who gains, of who is standing up, of what each individual is doing or not doing and simply add their voice/actions/prayers in solidarity,– all judgments aside – at least for the duration - and preferably beyond – we will win this moratorium.

If people reading this were to ask their local newspaper to print the daily blog (or parts thereof) and the www.ccamu.ca website, the word would get out to more and more people in time to make the “Bring Gramma Home” campaign successful.  In the meantime, thanks for passing it on to everyone you know.

The day broke bright and clear and work continued on the wooden hut that will bunk three.  While the Boler arrived last night, (thanks guys) its furnace is not working; possibly something connected to the switch, as the stove works fine. 

Hopefully someone with skills in that area will appear so that warmth will soon be assured.  My feet were warmed last night in some cozy socks donated by a loyal supporter.  Thank you all.

Love
Donna