Frank Armstrong
Kingston Whig-Standard
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Both sides of a dispute over a potential uranium mine north of Kingston hope to reach a temporary truce as early as Thursday.
Frontenac Ventures Corp. has asked the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to grant a permanent injunction against protesters who are blocking the entrance to a uranium prospecting area north of Sharbot Lake.
If granted, the court could potentially force the protesters to leave, among other options.
Frontenac Ventures is also suing the protesters for $77 million.
The protesters, members of the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquin Nations, are counter-suing Frontenac Ventures and plan to ask the court to kick the prospecting firm off the land.
They claim the Crown land being explored for mining is theirs and that Frontenac Ventures has no right being there.
Meanwhile, the lawyers representing the two sides were asked by a judge yesterday to try to reach a temporary compromise until a full trial can take place in September.
They'll attempt that compromise on Thursday.
Neal Smitheman, the lawyer for Frontenac Ventures, begged the court to come up with a temporary solution that would allow the company to keep working on the land before a trial can take place six weeks from now, starting Sept. 20.
"The company can't simply sit here for another six weeks and do nothing," Smitheman said. "If we don't have access to the property, even limited access, we're out of business."
Frontenac Ventures is willing to drill at sites that have already been drilled or do non-drilling work such as brush-clearing work, as long as its people can get back to work, he said.
"We're trying to be reasonable in the circumstances," he said.
Christopher Reid, who represents the Ardoch Algonquins, said his clients are open to listening to options.
However, Reid questioned why the situation couldn't be left as it is because the mood is currently peaceful.
He described the protest, which Smitheman called an "occupation," as more of a "camp" occupied by women and children, where the OPP officers keeping an eye on the scene are sipping tea with the protesters in a friendly manner.
"The people I represent are angry, but they have been very peaceful and very restrained," Reid said. "They are concerned about how this situation could become inflamed."
The judge asked Reid, Smitheman and Stephen Reynolds, who represents the Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquin, to return Thursday with a point-form, one-page list of concessions that they hope the other side will make for them.
If they can come to some kind of compromise, it's possible that Frontenac Ventures may be able to continue working at the site, but Reid and Smitheman both expressed skepticism at the notion.
They had already tried to reach agreements, they said.
A full hearing into the $77-million lawsuit, injunction application and counter-suit will take place at the Frontenac County Court House Sept. 20 and 21 and from Oct. 2 to 5.
There are now six lawyers on the case. As well as Reynolds, Smitheman and Reid, lawyers representing another group of Ontario Algonquins, the OPP and the Ontario attorney general have requested to take part in the trial.
It's possible that the federal attorney general may also step into the fray.
It was an unconventional day at the usually sedate Superior Court in Kingston.
The courtroom was packed with dozens of residents who live near the proposed mine, and they joined the Algonquins for the hearing. Many of them wore Day-Glo "No Uranium Mine" T-shirts that are being sold for $15 by the Algonquins to raise awareness about the protest.
Shabot Obaadjiwan chief Doreen Davis sat in the gallery in full First Nation costume, including a feather-filled headdress.
Outside the courthouse, two men pounded native drums in a steady beat during the breaks.
Before court began, Mitchell Shewell, a family head on the council representing the Ardoch Algonquins, said a few words to the court while holding an eagle.
"We are here to take care of the earth. We are here to prevent the windigo from hurting us," he said in a short speech.
Courtroom spectators aren't usually invited to speak.
During a break, a few of the people who live near the potential uranium mine site said they fear such a development would destroy the water table as far as Ottawa and pollute the land because the rivers there are at the head of the region's water table.
Hugh Proudfoot, an organic farmer who lives next to the site of the protest, said he would be forced to move if a mine opened next to him.
"Where they were going to begin drilling is a stream that goes right across my property," he said.