Aborginal Women Protest Dump Site 41
CALLING ALL FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE OF CANADA
The Anishinabe Women, Keepers of the Water, need your support!
Sunday, May 10, 2009.
Concession 2, Tiny Township, Ontario, Canada
My name is Vicki Monague and I am apart of 5 Anishinabe Kweag from Christian Island, Ontario who are making a stand for the Water where the purest water in the world is being threatened here by Dump Site 41 ( www.stopdumpsite41.ca ).This dump site has been approved by Ontario's McGuinty Government and is currently under production. It is slated to start receiving the waste products of 4 municipalities the County of Simcoe later this year. This ‘debated, reviewed and approved' landfill site is being built on top of the World's Purest Water source, the Alliston Aquifer, which runs from Georgian Bay right to the Oak Ridges Moraine and affects all the Great Lakes of Ontario. This Aquifer is part of a larger, deeper hydro geological system. In the territory of the County of Simcoe is three First Nation Communities; Rama, Georgina Island and Beausoleil.
Some major components of the approved site plan has already been proven to be ineffective when it was implemented in Cache Creek, British Columbia in 1989. This site was built in arid climate zone and in a natural depression with a sealed liner which was thought to be secure from leaks. Researchers found traces of leachate almost everywhere they looked outside the dump site as well as underground water. Contaminants in the underground water system were found as close as 2 kilometers away from Ashcroft Indian Reserve, near Cache Creek.
With the Alliston Aquifer running directly below in to every major body of water in Central Ontario, there is very real danger of the World's Purest Water Source becoming contaminated. As Anishinabe Women, it is our duty to stand up for the water to ensure its preservation for generations to come. As First Nations people, it is our duty to protect the land. Site 41 is not only raping Mother Earth, it will also give her the disease called leachate for which the affects could be felt for many, many generations to come.
A group of 30 native and Metis people have been holding vigil at Site 41 in Tiny Township for the past three days in what was to be a weekend Peaceful Protest. However, it seems very clear to us that our work is not done and we are going to continue to hold vigil over Site 41 until the Federal Government stands up for the Rights of First Nations People and overturns the Province of Ontario's decision of approval for Site 41.
We have been receiving the support of well over 40 non-native local community members all weekend long who have taken part in our Water Ceremonies and our Songs from the Drum. To my knowledge, this is the first time in Canada that the Non-Native People and First Nations have taken a stand in this region, side-by-side, against the levels of Government. We will continue to stand unified with our White Brothers and Sisters against Site 41.
Our voices have also been heard by Native Elders in Utah and California and we are quickly gaining support from other First Nation communities. Our Sacred Fire has been lit and will continue to burn until our demands are met. We are now inviting all First Nations People in Canada to come and take part in our Peaceful Protest of Site 41. Your First Nations Women need your support. We are going to protect our Heritage Land!
WE WILL NOT LEAVE UNTIL SITE 41 IS STOPPED PERMENTANTLY!
Sincerely,VICKI MONAGUE
Ojibwe of the Wolf ClanPlease sign the petitions;
I would call upon all peoples in Canada, not just the First Nations people.
It is time to stand for the water, the land, and the animals.
If you don't do it now, it will soon be too late.
What can you do to support the people who believe that protection of what gives us life should be the first priority.
Who has the courage to stand and say stop, this is enough, this is not right, this is a stupid idea, go build your garbage dump some place else.
Who can say, stop creating so much garbge in the first place.
Not that it matters for the water table, but I'd like to know where the toxic waste is coming from. I read several years ago that Toronto and Montreal accept somewhere over 600,000 metric tonnes of toxic waste from the US every year for "processing" If it's good garbage, they should shove it up their derrieres sideways. A good thing cant hurt.
Facebook message sent out today
Correction:
Thanks refuge, and there was a link somewhere to bank info to help with actions, do you have it?
yep, here is the info (linked to the facebook message)
Monetary donations can be deposited at Scotia Bank: Transit #: 40782/Account #: 0052116
Thanks,
"It's not too late to stop this imminent threat to Georgian Bay and the purest groundwater in the world!
Come out to dumpsite 41 on Saturday July 25 for the Rally! We are advocating for a one year moratorium on the issue. Speakers include:
*First Nations speakers
*Maude Barlow, first Senior Advisor on Water on the United Nations and Council of Canadians Chairperson
* David Crombie, former Toronto Mayor and federal cabinet minister
etc.
Fill a car, bring your entire household,- as well as lawn chairs and a water glass to toast the best groundwater in the world!
Participating groups:
Anishinabe kweag, Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Associations, Stop Dump Site 41, Council of Canadians
Please show your support and stand up for the water. The time is now BEFORE the water gets contaminated.
Together we are strong
For the next seven generations,
Shelley Essaunce
Minwaabe Kwe"
The Council of Canadians has discovered that Genivar [a major landfill development company] recently aqcuired both Jagger Hims and Henderson Paddon [the company the County has hired for all its Landfill Site designs including Site 41].
full press release here
Full Article
Just got a message from Vikki Monague that they have heard there is now an injunction.
If anyone has any details on this please post, I have not seen anything on the web to confirm or deny this.
edited to add: Just found this but it is very small on details. If anyone else has any more details please post.
July 16th Council of Canadians media release in response to the OPP confrontation with protesters barricading Dump Site 41:
http://www.canadians.org/media/water/2009/16-July-09.html
Thanks for the info steady_diet. So no injunction but threatening to arrest on mischeif charge. Interesting. I smell the garbage getting closer and the police getting more desperate to get the protestors out of the way.
Now that the OPP have set the precident for clearing FN protestors off land with KI, Sharbot Lake, Cayuga etc sounds like they are now brave enough to threaten to go forward without an injunction.
I think it's a mistake to focus on the police as if they are calling the shots. They have a role to play, but it's the local politicians who approved the dump and who are pushing for police action who need to be held to account. Today the County obtained a temporary injunction against the blockade: http://www.barrieadvance.com/barrieadvance/article/141583
Joey Ramone,
Prior to the KI, Sharbot Lake and Cayuga (and Brantford) the police did not arrest and target the people who were leaders in their community.
If you are writing about me you are the one that implied I focus on the police, which I do not. If you review the thread you will see that I have posted about other parties that are responsible. If you are talking about my post #14 - at that point when I posted there was no injunction against the protestors so it WAS purely police discretion - nobody was telling them to arrest or threaten to arrest the protestors at that point and that was what I choose to talk about in that post (I do not need to bring up every issue I have already posted or others have already posted in every post I write). Thus the focus in that post on the police making the decision. Now it is the courts discretion (which apparently they have made their decision) and the OPP's discretion on whether they will follow the court and arrest or the Ipperwash Inquiry which they have followed in the past
The police are not willing to stand up and do what they should be doing - following the Ipperwash Report recomendations. Just because there are other players in the game who are trashing the Ipperwash Report who also need to be held accountable doesn't mean the police shouldn't be held accountable for their decisions and actions.
I hope to God another inquiry is called and if it is I can guarantee the report will not state - and the police were just the victims, only following orders.
If you are talking about the entire thread focusing on the police you are the one implying it but the thread does not focus on the police. Perhaps you should read it again because there are various posts about the provincial government who is approving and pushing it through, about the various companies involved and the federal government who is not intervening.
Originally Sent July 21
Email sent out to correct earlier information that was mistaken
Just a reminder this is tomorrow.
I thought Charlie Angus was also a speaker tomorrow? His name was on the press release that I read.
Could be, that is the what was posted a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't find a more recent one to repost.
this situation reminded me just now of the blockade by residents outside the Coca-Cola plant in India.
that was/is another earlier story that has been pivotal in efforts for water and people
Thanks for the update Refuge. I wasn't at the rally but hear it was great. In other news, the First Nations protesters have retained legal counsel to represent them in the injunction proceedings on Wednesday. They've retained Peter Rosenthal, who has represented Shawn Brant for the past few years, and Chris Reid, who represents KI and Bob Lovelace and the Ardoch Algonquins.
Full article here
Full Article Here
Court is coming up tomorrow. They are hoping for an injunction against the dump so that no work can be done based on the environmental concerns. I am not really up to speed on environmental law so I don't know how likely or unlikely this is to happen on Wednesday.
Looking at other FN cases though, I am unfortunately not to hopeful that the injunction against the protestors will be lifted as there was not lifting of the injunction in Sharbot lake (or KI I believe) or Haggersville or Brantford and the injunction was only disolved in Caledonia because the province bought the property (and even that was a fight with the Judge to get it disolved even though all parties agreed to it).
Around camp the talk was that everyone is looking to Wednesday to see what happens in court.
Thanks refuge, this is so ugly of an action by politicians that people should be outraged across Canada.
I know remind. Guess people are willing to look past ugly if there is a big stack of money behind it.
Court Information for anyone who can attend tomorrow:
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Time: 9:00am - 3:30pm
Location: Barrie Courthouse
Street: 114 Worsley Street, Barrie, ON