Frontenac Ventures

An essay by Michael Patenaude on the sentencing of the Ardoch Algonquins and Paula Sherman and Bob Lovelace, and ahead of the sentencing of Shabot Obaadjiwan and settler (non-Native) protesters: "Sometimes in life one must look back in history for inspiration. This is especially true when current events overwhelm us and threaten to make us lose perspective."

Union of BC Indian Chiefs' (UBCIC) President, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, challenges the Ontario Government to honorably negotiate with the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN) rather than use the courts to harshly punish and intimidate those protecting their territory.

Shabot Obaajiwan Algonquin First Nation News Release: On February 12, 2008 the leadership of the Shabot Obaajiwan Algonquin First Nation appeared in a Kingston Ontario court to stand trial for their role in the ongoing struggle to stop a proposed 30,000-acre uranium mine on unceded Algonquin land just north of Sharbot Lake, Ontario. In keeping with the spirit of goodwill and peace in which the Shabot Obaajiwan having been conducting themselves throughout this conflict, Chief Doreen Davis and condoned War Chief Earl Badour Sr. have agreed to continue to abide by the terms of a court ordered injunction issued on September 27, 2007 with which they have complied since the blockade was dismantled on October 11, 2007. The Shabot leadership will ask their community to comply with this order and the “undertakings” negotiated by crown attorneys and Shabot defence lawyers until the case is reconvened for sentencing on March 17, 2008.

In early December Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, along with our Neighbours, Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation entered into mediated negotiations with Ontario to resolve the underlying issues that led to direct action at the Robertsville site. While Ardoch cannot speak for Shabot Obaadjiwan, Ardoch Algonquin people entered into the negotiation process with cautious optimism that this process might lead to actual discussions that would address the illegitimacy of the mining claims and land use permits issued by Ontario's Mining and Northern Development and Natural Resources.