[NukeNet] How far will we go in our stated goals of sustainability?

[Russell Honicker]

*From: *Jo Hayward-Haines <easterly at persona.ca>
*Date: *May 7, 2008 8:13:55 PM MDT
*Subject: **Letter to Frontenac News from Bob Lovelace*

Lovelace Speaks Out

Editor's Note: At the final session of the Citizens' Inquiry into the
uranium cycle, which was held in Ottawa, Mireille Lapointe, a co-chief with
the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, read a portion of a submission written by
Ardoch former chief Bob Lovelace, who lives at Canoe Lake in Bedford
District of South Frontenac. Lovelace has been in jail at the Central East
Correctional Facility since February 18 after leading guilty to a contempt
of court charge for refusing to honour a court injunction barring him from
blocking the gate in front of the Roberstville mine in North Frontenac. He
refused to enter into an undertaking to desist from blocking the mine, which
is being used as a staging ground for a drilling program by the uranium
exploration company Frontenac Ventures Corporation, and was sentenced to
serve six months by Superior Court Justice Cunningham.

He is scheduled for release on August 18 . He was also fined $25,000. An
appeal to his sentencing will be heard on may 28 in Toronto.

Below is reprinted the final few paragraphs of the text, For an electronic
version of the entire text, click on the following link
lovelace-citizens-inquiry.pdf (21 kb)

I have come to understand that uranium and the military industrial complex
that it feeds, is the forbidden fruit of our generation. It is the turtle
with the ring of moss on its back. It is the glittery box on which Pandora
speculates. My investment in the future will not be in uranium nor its
allied industries. I chose the morality of Algonquin Law and I will let
posterity be my judge. I have never been reconciled with Solomon's view that
all is vanity. The beauty of a frozen swamp in the middle of winter is not a
self-absorbed pretension. The beauty of a rainbow, a sunset, a fungus
growing in layers along a fallen tree, a world independent of human comings
and goings, all in all, never less than any which may be contrived. The goal
of living is not in attaining beauty but in accepting it. Desire is what
blinds us to invent beauty, to invent confections for the heart and mind.
And in doing so we live our lives out as caricatures on Vanity's stage. As
an Anishnabeg person I am not long out of the forest and I know that water
in its natural form is beautifully clean, the wind is warm and full of song
or cold and clear, the earth after a billion years still smells fresh and
clean, one sea will produce ten, a hundred, even a thousand fold. I know
that the earth is a quiet place as though listening to itself. When it
speaks it does so in an immense diversity of voices, some cautious, some
cautioning, all beautifully distant but urgent to be heard. It is such a
world that vanity seeks to erase.

I believe that at not other time in history have humans collectively had
such a clear view of the whole frame. At once it is possible to see our
beginnings and the possible futures a head of us. This perspective however
will not last. As we advance further a history of over consumption and
unmanageable waste the opportunities for sustainability and the perceptible
choices become fewer and fewer. Social change does not come easily. The
defences against colonialism have had only marginal success and more often
than not have resulted in violence and counter revolution. However when we
look at the natural world we can see their powerful forces with which human
beings ally. Within our human nature are forces with which we can endure
through the harshest challenges. Collectively, the bonds of family, clan and
community are far stronger than the deceptions that divide us. In pursuit of
positive social change we need to activate within ourselves the gifts
endowed upon us through creation. Perception, logic, discipline,
imagination, courage and insight are only a few of the powerful gifts within
us. We need to activate ourselves to ask less and give more so our local
communities become stronger. We need to embrace silence so when we do speak
the clarity of our voice will be unmistakable.

Changing the intentions of governments can be even more difficult than
effecting social change. I have no doubt that more people will have to go to
prison before Ontario becomes nuclear free and we embrace a society that
undertakes real sustainability. The whole basis of sustainability is local
communities meeting local needs. Big government simply does not fit into
this picture and neither does corporate construction of need fulfilment.
Sustainability is not about turning back the clock but rather the long
overdue evolution of rationalizing real human needs with real earthy
processes. As a society in change Ontario will need every bit of the wealth
now destined for nuclear development to effect the transitions that are
required. Urban structures need to be reinvented. The meaning of labour will
need to be redefined. Eco-cartography will reshape political boundaries. And
most of all people will change culturally. The present energy crisis and the
need for sustainable economies necessitate a renaissance of humanity but
present governments resist such change because the old means of governance;
repression, false promises and popularity contests are not sufficient to
control populations through emergent creativity. For today's governments it
will seem easier to deny, pretend, punish and finally abdicate
responsibility. People need to take initiative on there won and they need to
do so now. There is a great need to defend the earth and our relatives in
creation. Stopping uranium exploitation is definitely an important action in
defending the earth. The coalitions that are created are nexus of shared
knowledge and mutual concern. But simply shutting down the machines, turning
off the taps and extinguishing the lights is not enough to meet the
challenges of an over consumptive society. We need to reinvent ourselves.

Last year when I learned that 30,000 acres of our homeland had been staked
for uranium exploration with the potential for an open pit mine, my first
thoughts were how to protect Algonquin rights and interests. Since then my
knowledge and understanding has grown beyond parochial interests to include
my non-Algonquin neighbours and a struggle that goes further than mere
resistance to colonialism. However my core understanding of what is to be
Anishnabeg (human being), my knowledge of the land (aki) and my acceptance
of the meaning of creation still inform who I am and what I believe. Going
to prison is a small price to pay for one's integrity and even a smaller
price to pay for the right to care for the earth, our mother and home to all
of our relations. Sacrifice is the work that binds us with the rest of
humanity who struggles to preserve their homelands, sustainable cultures and
natural justice. As each day passes I believe more and more that to live
free, active, intelligent, compassionate lives is our inheritance.
Imprisonment is never the end of the struggle for change. It is the
beginning of conviction. To be a human being is to find peace and good will
taking only what you need and giving back everything.

I am humbled to be able to share my thoughts with the Citizens' Inquiry and
I commend all of you for your hard work and sacrifices bringing this forum
to the people.

Bob Lovelace

Jo Hayward-Haines
705-292-9695
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