Stephen Lewis, Margaret Atwood and a Group of Eminent Canadians Show Their Support For The KI 6

For many, many months now, I have been writing about situation happening with the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation involving the junior mining company Platinex. I've also written about the unconscionable jailing of the KI 6, for simply standing up for their rights. I have been writing about these events to try to shed light onto this outrage and to try to help the leaders and people of KI as best as I can. Thankfully, the word about KI has long since gotten out there, and there have been amazing shows of support for the KI 6 and the people of the KI First Nation. One of the most recent shows of that support came on Wednesday April 9th, when a huge rally was held at Ryerson University in Toronto in support of both the KI 6 and Robert Lovelace of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation. It was an amazingly moving night, and one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had in my short years on this earth. If you'd like to see some of the videos from that night, please check my link here to the videos.

At that rally, it was announced that a couple of other rallies would be held. The next such rally is coming up tomorrow, Wednesday April 23rd. It's being hosted by the Chiefs of Ontario, is happening on the lawn in front of Queen's Park and will be taking place from 1 pm to 3 pm. For those of you that have Facebook, please check out the Facebook group for this event. The rally tomorrow looks to be lining up as a huge event, and and even larger show of force to show Premier McGuinty and his Liberals that their "new direction with Aboriginal Communities" is far from being adequate. It's the very direction that Premier McGuinty was touting today as the OPP ended a day long blockade near Deseronto by 75 Mohawks with 200 police officers (hmmm... can you say over-reaction?), and is the same direction that lead to the KI 6 and Robert Lovelace ending up in jail. It seems like this "new direction" is more about overcompensating for his bungling of Caledonia than having respectful negotiations with the Aboriginal People of Ontario.

Tomorrow's rally is going to be big, but that big rally and the cause of the KI 6 was given a huge boost yesterday. A group of 20 eminent Canadians, including former UN ambassador Stephen Lewis, author Margaret Atwood, actor Cathy Jones and musician Sarah Harmer have sent an open letter to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, calling on him to immediately free the KI 6 and Robert Lovelace. The letter not only made a plea for these leaders to be freed, but also made the case for a very simple idea: mining shouldn't take precedence over people's homes and health. The letter went on to state that the signatories of the letter "support the right of a community to say 'no' to mineral exploration".

You'd think that being faced with this kind of support for these leaders that the McGuinty Liberals might give in a bit. Sadly, the best that they have done so far is offer $200,000 toward the legal fees of the jailed leaders and stated a willingness to do more if they decide to appeal their convictions. That falls far short of doing what the can do, and just shows that they are only willing to pay lip service to Aboriginal rights in Ontario. Personally, I'm looking forward to attending the rally tomorrow and seeing the hundreds of people who show up to lend their support for the KI 6. I'm also curious to see if Premier McGuinty or Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant have the cojones to show their faces and face this crowd. I know for sure that John Tory or any Conservatives won't show, as they will probably be too busy getting over the hangover of the celebrations from the OPP ending that blockade in Deseronto. Tomorrow will be an interesting day and I look forward to reporting back about the events of the day.Recommend this Post