Thursday, June 21, 2007
Kingston Whig Standard
The latest trail through the land dispute involving the Ardoch Algonquins has more potholes than a downtown street. No matter which way you turn, peril awaits.
This week Bob Lovelace, speaking for the Algonquins, said the natives will fight the plans of a mining company, Frontenac Ventures, to look for uranium on land near Pine Lake. Citing the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the Algonquins claim the land as their own and say they have the right to throw people off it if they don't want them there.
To support their cause, the natives are playing the environmental card, suggesting radiation will poison the area's watershed if uranium in the bedrock is disturbed. Their outrage, however, rings hollow. These are the same Algonquins who ignored demands for an environmental assessment before they began to build a community centre on Crown land at Pine Lake. The natives no longer have credibility as environmental stewards.
The government of Ontario, which regulates mining in the province, similarly seems to be trying to grab ethical high ground to which it has no claim. At a time when confrontations at Caledonia and Deseronto have made us aware of how charged these disputes can become, you'd think a bureaucrat wouldn't need a regulation to understand the need to consult natives when a prospector expresses interest in minerals on disputed land.
Perhaps anticipating that common sense might not always prevail, the government last year created a policy requiring exactly that kind of consultation with native groups. It's unclear how well that is being handled in this case.
Finger-pointing and emotion aside, you needn't be a direct stakeholder to see that this situation can be boiled down to one of economics, with a little politics thrown in on the side.
Economically speaking, at a time when we should be excited about the possibility of new jobs and economic activity, we're instead mired in posturing and bureaucratic stickhandling.
Politically speaking, instead of discussing the merits of the project, we're wondering exactly to what lengths the Algonquins will go to expel prospectors from the land. Aboriginal groups all over Ontario have made note of the fact that direct action, whether a blockade or a demonstration, seems to garner headlines.
Not long ago, we would have expected the natives' threat to stop uranium prospecting to involve going to court and getting an injunction. In the current climate of occupations and blockades, however, we can no longer be sure the situation at Ardoch won't evolve into a confrontation on the order of Caledonia or Deseronto.
Land disputes have gone beyond sentiment, history and the academic exercise of whose ancient treaty applies to what piece of land. So as the June 29 native "day of action" approaches, the looming Ardoch situation should be considered in terms of opportunity.
It could be the case where natives demonstrate they're prepared to resolve disputes in the reality of today, not the reality of King George. It could be the case where governments show they're capable of sincere and prompt negotiation, and will put foot-dragging behind them, moving swiftly to resolve a dispute before it's allowed to fester into some sort of confrontation.
Otherwise, the only opportunities we'll have to discuss will be those we all regret that we lost: opportunities for peace and economic growth.