Native and non-native protesters defied a judge's order yesterday to hold a prayer session outside the entrance to a uranium exploration site north of Sharbot Lake.
About 18 people joined Ardoch Algonquin First Nation leader Bob Lovelace in a pipe ceremony to pray for the land they say is being destroyed by uranium prospectors.
Despite an order to stay 200 metres from the site, the ceremony occurred just a few metres in front of the gate along Highway 509, near Clarendon.
Lovelace, a Queen's University lecturer and former Ardoch Algonquin chief, spent 3 1 /2 months in jail for refusing to obey the order. He said yesterday he's not worried about going back to jail.
"I don't think this is hurting the spirit of the injunction," he said.
The injunction bans protesters from interfering with the work of Oakvillebased prospecting firm Frontenac Ventures and prohibits them from being within 200 metres of a company employee or representative.
Provincial police have told protesters that means they have to stay at least 200 metres from the gate.
Lovelace said protesters don't plan to interfere with any work.
"We came here to pray and think about the land that is being destroyed," he said.
Despite a native occupation last year that shut down the exploration site for several months, Frontenac Ventures continues to clear the site to search for uranium.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has laid charges against Frontenac Ventures Corporation and Gemmill Sand and Gravel Ltd. related to work
done at the mine site. The three parties will head to court this month.
Yesterday's pipe ceremony was one of a series of recent gatherings the Ardoch Algonquins have organized on the edge of the mine site.
Protesters said they felt comfortable close to the gate because they don't believe that's disobeying the injunction.
While a judge said they must stay 200 metres away from Frontenac Ventures workers and can't interfere with the company's work, he didn't say they must stay away from the site, protesters said.
Two men who appeared to be mine site workers watched from the gate. One filmed the ceremony on a video camera while the other observed from the passenger seat of a white Chevrolet SUV.
A blue minivan, which protesters said was being driven by an OPP intelligence officer, passed back and forth on the highway.
Joan Rose, who lives in Kingston but has a cottage nearby, was one of several non-natives who attended yesterday.
Rose said she isn't worried about getting arrested because Ontario's appeal court has not supported the prosecution of others who have been arrested for doing so.
In May, a Toronto appeal court freed Lovelace from jail and cleared him of contempt charges. Soon after, similar charges against six non-natives accused of disobeying the order were also dropped.
"It's a toothless injunction in that if they prosecute people, it's going to look really bad," said Rose. "The people who are coming here are upstanding citizens and are intelligent and well-informed people who have a democratic right to peaceful protest."
Lovelace said progress on the conflict may be imminent.
The Ardoch Algonquins will hold a telephone conference with Ontario government officials today and he's optimistic a solution can be reached.