Imprisoned uranium mine protester Bob Lovelace lost his request yesterday to be freed at least until an appeal of his six-month sentence is complete.
Lovelace's lawyer, Chris Reid, asked a court in Toronto yesterday to temporarily let his client out of a Lindsay jail so he can attend Wednesday's appeal hearing as well as a series of protest events in Toronto next week.
Reid also argued for the release of six members of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, including its chief, who were jailed for similar reasons.
"The KI-6 are going to be getting out today, but Bob will not," Reid said yesterday.
Lovelace will, however, be allowed to attend his appeal hearing.
A Queen's University lecturer and former Ardoch Algonquin First Nation chief, Lovelace was imprisoned for six months in February for refusing a judge's order to stop blocking Oakville-based Frontenac Ventures from prospecting for uranium north of Sharbot Lake.
The KI-6 were also sentenced to six months for obstructing an exploration company's access to land near their reserve in northern Ontario.
They were let out of jail because Plantinex Inc., the company they were opposing, agreed to stop exploration until the end of the appeal.
As a result, the KI-6 agreed to obey a judge's order to not obstruct the site for the same period, Reid said.
Frontenac Ventures made no such promise, so Lovelace also refused to capitulate.
Reid blamed the Ontario government and said, despite a number of public proclamations, it has done nothing to resolve the issue.
Protesters are arranging buses to take people from Kingston to four days of protest events in Toronto, including a Monday evening rally at the Ontario Legislature.
The events will culminate Thursday, a national day of Aboriginal action.
A second round of contempt charges is set to be heard in a Kingston courtroom on June 2.