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

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.

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

The OPP landed in first thing to do their surveillance.  There was a bit of a stir when the landowner and a neighbour wanted to come onto the property and were denied access (by the OPP) while that was happening.

Around 70 people attended the open Native council meeting this afternoon to hear Ardoch’s lawyer explain where things sit currently.  Lots of people stopped by during the day – it didn’t hurt that the weather was bright and beautiful. It is clear that support is strong and growing.  The prize for longest distance traveled goes to a couple of gentlemen from N.B., while our highest profile guest was Frank DeJong, Leader of the Green Party of Ontario, and a personal friend, who stopped in to check up on me. Soon the trailer will be heated and the hut is already cozy and warm, so please come by for a few minutes, a day or several.  Just bring your sleeping bag, pillow and toothbrush.

News came from CBC Morning Show that they were not going to come for an interview after-all because they had heard, erroneously, that the blockade was down.  (Although they are showing good faith and continuing their move to this side of the gate, until the ‘I’s are dotted and the ‘T’s are crossed, the Natives continue to hold the gate.)   I explained that to the young woman who called, but she was not convinced that there was still a story here.  From my perspective, whether or not there is a blockade matters not to my purpose and presence here.

In the meantime, I know that we will win this by people power and with the power of the Internet.  Whatever you are doing – whether it is writing Letters to the Editor; attending the site; getting a ‘Bring Gramma Home’ sign where people can see it; speaking to your MP’s or MPP’s and the Premier, sending emails far and wide, including this blog; copying the petition; speaking, or having someone speak to your group; getting together a coalition of grandparents (and honourary grandparents) in your town or city; making donations or holding a fundraiser, please keep doing it – something each and every day.  If you have some other ideas please run with them and let us know so that we can share them.

CCAMU is looking for people to picket the Premier’s office and hand out info at city hall in Ottawa (and possibly Queens Park, too).  If you are in Ottawa or Toronto, or can be, please let us know when you can spare a few hours.

Thanks to Philip Thompson for the fabulous sleeping bag - good to 25 below.  With some hot rocks and a hot water bottle inside with me, the cold problem should be licked (and just in time too).  Up till now, I had not been naming the people who have been supporting just in case they’d rather not have their name on the site, but I was assured that Philip would be ok with that.  Thanks for the note too, Philip. It’s incredible how the needs of the camp are met sometimes even before we put out a request.  Thanks everyone.

Today was the first day that I felt fatigued and my blood pressure was up, though still in the acceptable range.   Weight loss is in the 10 lb. range.  Mentally, I’m good and I’m feeling both disappointed - to think that what I am doing is not of interest - at least to one news program (expectations will get ya every time) and blessed to have the support that is here (and out there).  I’m also grateful for the break in the weather.
Love
Donna

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

When we were in Elliot Lake last month both our hostess and our tour guide/sponsor were contending with lung problems. I could not help wondering whether uranium mining had played a part. That area has a 24% higher rate of cancer (I’m not sure if that was than the rest of Ontario or Canada).

As well as increased cancer rates, including among miners themselves, there are so many other levels at which it just makes sense to say ‘no’ to uranium (and to, instead, bring Gramma home J). There’s the question of what the uranium is ultimately used for. Of course, at the top of that list is bombs. We do use it for medical purposes, but medical use is miniscule, when in the big picture, it causes more cancer than it cures. While Nuclear Power plants are toted as green energy, when the whole picture is looked at, it just ain’t so. Drilling holes to explore, or doing it from the air, takes fossil fuels; as does the extraction process; as does the trucking to get it to the plant. Building the plants uses huge amounts of fossil fuels. Energy is then needed to run the plants – when they are up and running - and it’s my understanding that, as a rule, they are down more than they are up. Indeed the energy that is the end result has lower emissions than coal and oil, but not of solar, wind, etc. And then comes the clincher. We still have the problem of storage to deal with. What happens after we enjoy the use of this nice clean energy (she said tongue in cheek), after a few get rich in the process and a few more enjoy some short-term benefit. Even if we overlook the reality that our kids are going to have to deal with the contamination, along with their kids and theirs, and, instead, we looked at future economic development in contaminated areas we will note that real estate prices are down, as is tourism. On the up-side, (again tongue in cheek) I heard yesterday that the municipality does not charge property taxes in Elliot Lake, since the land is of no value (or perhaps of negative value) and it is well known that accommodation is ‘dirt’ cheap.

I don’t write all of this for the good and aware people who subscribe to the Uranium News, so much as for the people who, I am hoping, receive it from you.

At the site: Word was that it was an extremely well attended info session in Almonte on Friday night. My grandkids were there with their beautiful momma and Mike. John Kittle gave another great presentation and reports are that the audience seemed to understand that uranium exploration and mining at the mouth of their water source was not such a good plan. If other such info sessions could be set up (this one was with a panel for and against) that would help to spread awareness. (Note from Lynn: We have since had an offer to set one up in Carlton Place sometime in the next month. Stay tuned for more info.)

Mike visited last night and stayed over to help keep me warm on the coldest night yet. As I write this, I can hear the sounds of the beginning stages of the building of a wood hut to get us out of the weather and people are talking about today’s concert in Sharbot Lake.

Question for today is:

What do you miss about being away from home?

Snuggling with my husband and helping him with his sustainability education work. I take comfort in thinking that what is happening here is an ’on the ground’ example of what needs to happen to wake people up; hot showers; the chitter-chatter of my teenage daughter Elisha, and hot showers.