2 posts tagged “protest”

The last day of my first (I say that hoping there won’t be a second) full month on site proved to be a lively one.  First off, I was able to get on the net, al-be-it briefly.  There are still some kinks, but it is looking very possible to get hooked up, via dial-up, to the world.

About 50 interested supporters showed up for the community meeting, which will continue every Sunday at 1 p.m.  An agreement is in place and the monitoring team will begin work tomorrow.  They will be doing a baseline survey to record where the exploration company is currently, so that they can come in two or three times a week and check the progress.  No date has been set for the mediation with the province and the feds, but the mediator has been agreed upon.  It is unclear whether the twelve-week period before drilling will begin starts tomorrow, or on the date of the first meeting.

I’m very pleased with Janice Kennedy’s column in today’s Ottawa Citizen.  Not only is it well written, but it also very well researched.   As to, “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,” the way I see it, everything starts with one person, but never in isolation.  For example, Ryan’s Wells Foundation www.ryanswell.ca is a huge and growing organization that has built 319 wells in fourteen countries because one six-year-old saw a need.  It’s ever been thus.  I’m a firm believer that changing the world happens one person at a time and somebody, ordinary or extraordinary, whatever that means, has to start.  In fact, in this situation it was Frank and Gloria Morrison, local landowners who were not willing to sit by and let the status quo reign supreme.  My action is one more cog in a wheel that they set in motion well over a year ago.

Donna and Frank Morrison

put it in your window, in your car, on your lawn

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New numbers to report:  BP 109/66; Pulse 77; Weight loss 15 lbs.  (I continue to feel blessed that I had an extra layer to work with there.)  I’m still feeling very positive about achieving our goal and grateful for a good night’s sleep.
Love
Donna

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