Remaining charges against eight uranium mine protesters, including two Ardoch Algonquin First Nation leaders, were dismissed by a judge in Kingston yesterday.
Justice Douglas Cunningham dismissed contempt of court charges against Bob Lovelace, Harold Perry and six neighbours of a potential uranium mine site north of Sharbot Lake after provincial police and the firm that's prospecting on the land said they're not interested in pursuing the case.
"Rather than turning this into a great big deal, given the position of [Frontenac Ventures Corp.] and the OPP, it's my inclination to discharge the warrants," Cunningham told a packed courtroom at the Frontenac County Court House.
"That would be the end of it." Not completely.
Cunningham's original injunction, which prohibits protesters from getting within 200 metres of the proposed mine site or any Frontenac Ventures employees, remains in place. Those who break that injunction could find themselves in court or jail.
Lovelace, a Queen's University lecturer and former Ardoch Algonquin chief, spent 3 1 /2 months in a provincial jail because he refused to obey that order. He was released without explanation last Wednesday by a panel of three Toronto appeal court judges, who said they will reveal the reasons behind their decision later.
As dozens of supporters milled outside the county courthouse yesterday, Lovelace said the Ardoch Algonquins will continue their "peaceful" fight against the uranium mine, despite the reat of jail.
"It will probably include going near the site and making our presence known," Lovelace told reporters.
The next step will probably be determined when the family heads of the Ardoch Algonquin council next meet, he said.
While Cunningham's injunction is still in effect, Lovelace said he doubts police will enforce it.
"The OPP will probably not lay
charges because Frontenac Ventures is not interested in pursuing a prosecution, so it's almost a moot point," Lovelace said.
Chris Reid, the Toronto lawyer who is representing the Ardoch Algonquins - in exchange for trapped and hunted meat - said Frontenac Ventures told him late last week that they no longer wanted to pursue the contempt charges, but they didn't say why.
Dozens of people tried to attend yesterday's hearing, but they were disappointed there was no room for them in the tiny courtroom. Instead, they had to listen to the proceedings through a microphone-and-speaker karaoke machine that Cunningham allowed to be rigged through a window to the outside.
While the withdrawal of the charges is a relief to the eight accused people, Reid said it changes nothing.
The Ardoch Algonquins still demand that the provincial government negotiate with them about allowing Frontenac Ventures to prospect for uranium on land they believe was left to their ancestors by the British in 1763 through a document called the Royal Proclamation.
Lovelace has said he must fight the prospect of a uranium mine because he is duty-bound under Algonquin law to defend the land against the environmental danger a uranium mine poses.
Reid met with Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant last week, but requests for negotiations with the province were dismissed, he said.
"Unless that changes, I don't see how this is going to be resolved," Reid said. "There are likely to be more people ending up in jail at some point in the future."
Neal Smitheman, lawyer for Frontenac Ventures, said outside court that his clients decided not to press the contempt charges because of the cost.
"We're not in the business of prosecution; we're in the business of drilling holes," Smitheman said.
He also said the company is satisfied that an injunction remains in place that can be used, if needed.
Frontenac Ventures owner George White was not in court yesterday.
The Algonquins have said their fight is not with Frontenac Ventures, but with the provincial government and its failure to change Ontario's 135-year-old Mining Act, which allows the government to hand out mining claims anywhere in Ontario, including on the traditional land of First Nations people, without asking permission of the land owners.
Lovelace's fight has been widely reported, but little has been written about the contempt charges against the six non-natives - Sheila Macdonald, Sulyn Cedar, Beth Robertson, Oskar Graf, Eileen Kinley and Don Hanam - who were charged in March with breaking Cunningham's order to stay away from the prospective mine site on Highway 509. They have been waiting more than two months to find out if they, too, would be thrown in jail.
Standing outside the courthouse after yesterday's hearing, Hanam said non-native protesters plan to continue their fight against the uranium mine, but they feel hamstrung in their ability to protest because of the istence of Cunningham's injunction.
He said they were charged when they approached the mine site gate to find police in order to ask them from what point they should measure the 200-metre distance.
They had no plans to cause any trouble, he said.
"We brought tape measures, we had cars with odometers ... to find out exactly where that perimeter was," he said.
Lawyers representing the six non-Algonquins are asking Cunningham to order Frontenac Ventures and the OPP to pay legal costs.
Reid will also ask for legal costs but will submit his request in writing after the Toronto appeal court judges release their reasons for letting Lovelace out of jail 2 1 /2 months before the end of his sentence.