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)

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.

My schedule this week has me out at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, from mid afternoon to late evening, and from Friday mid afternoon to late Sunday or into Monday (if I can get some press, or a meeting with the Premier in Ottawa).  Please don’t let that stop you from coming by and saying hi to those that continue to keep the vigil on the side of the road.  If you are able to help financially, the “Bring Gramma Home” campaign would like to have some bumper stickers, buttons, etc. printed.  Click on the appropriate link (Editor’s note: How you can you help” tab) on the website www.ccamu.ca for more info on donating to help make this happen.

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

Up until this point, Donna has been reaching out to folks with the help of friends.  Some of us are keeping this blog going (a huge thank you to Nathan Sloniowski!!) and are unable to respond to all the kind words of support you are sending Donna's way.  Please know that she is hugely appreciative of your thoughts and prayers.

We are very grateful to Sheila MacDonald for taking the following footage of Donna.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

The following is a press release from the Green Party of Canada

26.10.2007

Green leader lauds federal councilor for hunger strike against uranium mining

OTTAWA – Green Party leader Elizabeth May today lauded the efforts of Green federal councilor Donna Dillman, who has received national media attention for a hunger strike she began on October 8th in an effort to end uranium mining in Eastern Ontario.

Ms. May, who staged a 17-day hunger strike herself in 2001 to get federal action on the Sydney tar ponds, renewed the Green Party’s call for a moratorium on uranium mining and prospecting, calling Ms. Dillman’s hunger strike “inspirational”.

“Donna’s effort plays an important role in the campaign to end uranium mining and prospecting in Canada,” said Ms. May. “Her actions are indicative of the broad-based, community opposition to uranium extraction and the severe environmental and health effects posed by a uranium mine in Eastern Ontario.”

Ms. Dillman has been camped out at a mine site in Robertsville, near Sharbot Lake in Eastern Ontario, where thirty thousand acres have been staked out for uranium exploration by mining company Frontenac Ventures. Ardoch Algonquin and Shabot Obaadgiwan First Nation have blockaded the mine site at Robertsville since June 29th of this year.

“Radioactive particles released by mining are carried downwind and downstream and have the potential to poison hundreds of thousands of Eastern Ontarians. Nuclear energy is no solution to the climate crisis and is inevitably linked to nuclear weapons proliferation. The Green Party would end mining and refining uranium in Canada and put a stop to perverse subsidies to the nuclear industry.”

The old saying “It never rains, but it pours,” was certainly true here yesterday.  Heating equipment arrived for the Boler, the HTHB got well on its way to being fully insulated and a wood stove was installed in the Dickey Moore Trailer.  The new, fully insulated, to code, stove-pipe was donated by a local, very sympathetic business.  (If corporations are people, I figure business could and should have feelings.)  Thanks to everyone for the parts he or she played in bringing us heated accommodations.

Janice Kennedy, from the Ottawa Citizen, paid a visit and will write about us in her column in Sunday’s edition.  One of her many interesting inquiries was around what I say to people who think that I’m a ‘flaky.’  The question amused me, mostly because I assumed some might think me crazy, but flaky hadn’t entered my head.

On this, the first day of my 4th week on the side of the road, I am still feeling positive, still appreciative of the company and the incredible support and glad to have the amenities that are coming our way – specifically the land phone line and warm beds.  My blood pressure remains good at 115/75 and my pulse strong (61).  My upper arm muscles are weakened slightly and I have to watch to not stand up or turn too quickly.  I haven’t weighed myself, sans clothes, yet, but now that there is a warm space I’ll be able to remove the numerous layers long enough to get an accurate reading, so stay posted.

With the government having named its new ministers, please keep the letters rolling out to them, handwritten if you have the time, and hopefully we’ll soon have our assurance that uranium will be left in the ground, undisturbed, where it belongs.

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

After a quiet start to another t-shirt and shorts, beautiful day, (can this really be Oct 22?) we were pleased to greet a film crew from The National this a.m.  After my interview, they spent time with Bob Lovelace before heading to Frank Morrison’s to film the staked claims on his property.  It will likely have aired by the time you read this, as it is scheduled for Tues. at 9 and 11 p.m. on News World, and at 10 on The National. 

It feels very strange to me to be in the ‘limelight’ having been content to be the major support person, behind the scenes, for so many years.  During the filming and throughout the day, the site was abuzz with folks milling about, meeting new people, talking about yesterday’s meeting, this a.m.’s filming and various strategies to insure a moratorium.

Long distance visitors included a family from England, a couple from Killaloe, who brought along firewood, warm clothing and other gifts; Green Party representatives from Renfrew County; and Eric Walton, who is the Federal Green Party Candidate from Kingston – and a personal friend. The Greens and NDP representative, Ross Sutherland, who has been at the site several times over the duration, continue to take an interest in what is happening here.  Our new MPP, Randy Hillier would be most welcome, as would Liberal Party reps. Perhaps they need more letters and phone calls to encourage them.

I’ve not mentioned that Mike is off on book tour in Montreal.  He and I have spent most of the last year and a half on the road with his latest book. Before my life took a turn and I ended up here, I had planned a Vipassana Retreat south of there.  Mike was to spend the ten days doing discussions in the area.  When my plans changed, he consolidated his and is away for just a week.  At the same time, Kassia and her family, having been in a car accident (they are all fine) on their way to spend a day with me a week ago Saturday, decided to go to Nova Scotia, while her car is in the shop being repaired.  They are visiting with her older sister, Terra Nova, in Halifax and helping celebrate Eliza’s 9th birthday.  All to say that I’m missing family, so it’s really great to be seeing so many community members, from near and far, that I have come to love and admire over the years.

Again today, I was fatigued by midday.  I actually considered a nap, but that time will come soon enough.  I’ve a letter to get off to Premier McGuinty today, and, as well, one to our new MPP to advise him of what I am up to out here in Robertsville, just in case he has not heard.

Love
Donna