On March 18, 2008, the Ontario Superior Court’s Judge Patrick Smith sentenced Chief Donny Morris and six other council members from the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (or KI) First Nation, a community of about 1200 people in northern د اونټاریو, کاناډا, to six months in jail for ‘contempt of court’. They defied a court order to stay away from a part of their lands, slated for mining by the Platinex Corporation. They were also fined an exorbitant sum, but the judge applied the jail terms because he knew that they could not pay – they were already bankrupt because of the $500,000 in court fees they had paid trying to defend themselves from Platinex before the court, over the past several years. Platinex had sued KI, at first for $10 billion (before reducing it to $10 million).
په خپله سزا کې ، قاضي سمیټ د ارډوچ الګونکین قوم مشر ، باب لیولیس د زنداني کولو مثال په توګه یاد کړ ، چې د فبروري په 15 د دوی په ځمکو کې د کان کیندنې شرکت فرونټینیک وینچرز لخوا د یورانیمو د کان کیندنې مخه نیولو لپاره په خپله شپږ میاشتې بند محکوم شو. د کاناډا پلازمینې اوټاوا څخه 100 کیلومتره (د ساحې نقشه او د قانوني اړخونو ځینې بحث لپاره د ارډوچ الګونکین لومړی ملت ویب پاڼه وګورئ: http://www.aafna.ca/index.html او په ځانګړې توګه http://www.aafna.ca/Uranium_mining.html). Lovelace ته هم امر شوی چې 25,000 ډالر ورکړي. د ملت مشر، پاولا شرمن ته امر شوی و چې $ 15,000 او ټولنې ته اضافي $ 10,000، او د نه اطاعت لپاره هره ورځ $ 2000 ورکړي. د دې قضیې قاضي، جې کننګهم، وویل چې هغه د بند سزا یو "ناخوښ کار" وباله.
د دې مشرانو زنداني کول د کاناډا د غیر منطقي او ظلمونو ټول کوربه ته یوه کړکۍ وړاندې کوي - د ځایی خلکو بې رحمه تخریب ، د ګړندي ګټې لټون ترڅو له ځمکې څخه و ایستل شي او په پیسو بدل شي هرڅه چې پایلې وي ، د انرژي سیسټم پراساس. د پایښت وړ ځای، د نه منلو وړ سیسټم په دفاع کې بې زړه توب.
کیسه په کې کاناډا is an old one, described eloquently in a 25-year old book that could have been written yesterday by Robert Davis and Mark Zannis (1983) called "The Genocide Machine in کاناډا". Indigenous nations are deprived of their landbases and surrounded by settlers, extractive industries, or developments. They lose their means of survival when their lands are taken or when their lands are poisoned. They are dependent on small payments from the government. When they resist further encroachments on their lands, these sources of income are threatened. If that doesn’t scare them, there’s always violence and jail terms.
To understand the significance of the jailings, it is necessary to take a moment to explain کاناډا‘s laws on indigenous rights and public land use.
قانوني چل
KI falls under "Treaty 9", which was signed in 1929. The legal dispute is that Platinex claims it has a right to explore and exploit under د اونټاریو‘s mining laws and tried to do so in 2005-6. Do the rights of mining companies to profit, based on provincial jurisdiction, trump agreements between the federal government and indigenous nations in an effort to protect the nations’ means of survival? These means, to be clear, are good hunting, gathering, and fishing lands on Big دسلمن دكورنۍ كب Lake in some good natural forest that will be destroyed by mining operations. KI argued that the drilling would do irreparable harm. Platinex argued that they were losing money. The د اونټاریو court went with Platinex.
د اونټاریو‘s Mining Act is 135 years old and based on a wild-west model. It allows anyone to stake a claim anywhere on Crown land. This means that public land can be exploited for profit by private interests. The legal issue is whether this law supercedes all others – as well as any ethical or common sense that anyone might apply to the situation. KI and others have claimed that the Mining Act is unconstitutional, bypassing as it does the ‘duty to consult’. The court claimed that if these leaders weren’t jailed, there would be a loss of respect for the law, the creation of two regimes of justice. But there are two regimes of justice already. Those who illegally take or pollute indigenous territories are not punished with jail terms, the way Bob Lovelace and these other leaders have been. The Shabot Obaajiwan’s spokesperson Earl Badour put it succinctly in a press relese of March 18. "The government accuses First Nations of breaking Canadian laws when they defend their lands, but Canada itself is selective about which of its own laws it will abide by," said Badour. "If the law doesn’t serve their purposes they conveniently ignore it." The Shabot Obaajiwan is suing the mining companies and the government based on the ‘duty to consult’ in Supreme Court rulings and the constitution. The duty to consult means that indigenous communities must be meaningfully consulted on resource exploration on their lands. This of course clashes with د اونټاریو‘s Mining Act, which is based on corporations grabbing whatever they can. The concern for the rule of law that was Judge Smith’s justification for the draconian sentences is a concern for the Mining Act above the constitution and Supreme Court decisions. Higher laws have been circumvented through for the sake of profit.
په نورو قانوني چلونو کې شامل وو چې شرکت د محکمې حکم او حکم ترلاسه کول د دې پرځای چې د ځایی خلکو پروړاندې د سرغړونې تورونه درج کړي - د سرغړونې تور به ټولې قانوني پوښتنې خلاصې کړي چې دا د چا ځمکه وه.
د کانونو سیاست
هغه شرکت چې هڅه کوي د ارډوچ الګونکین ټولنې په لګښت یورانیم ترلاسه کړي، فرونټینیک وینچرز، په اسرار کې پټ دی. د کانونو څیړونکي جیمي کین د IPS کریس ارسنالټ ته وویل چې "د ولسمشر او د دوی وکیل پرته، هیڅوک نه پوهیږي چې دوی څوک دي یا دوی خپلې پیسې چیرته ترلاسه کوي." د فرونټینیک ولسمشر جورج وایټ د رسنیو تلیفونونو ته ځواب ویلو څخه ډډه وکړه.
د فرونټینیک وکیل نیل سمیټمن هم د پلاټینیکس استازیتوب کوي. په حقیقت کې، کله چې په 2006 کې ولایتي محکمې پریکړه وکړه چې پلاټینیکس باید خپل عملیات ودروي پداسې حال کې چې د KI سره مشورې ترسره شوي، سمیټمن وویل "د کان کیندنې ډیری شرکتونه او اکتشاف شرکتونه شتون لري چې په ورته حالت کې کیدی شي که چیرې د سمې مشورې نشتوالی وي. هغه ځمکې چې د لومړي هیوادونو خلکو لخوا د ادعا تابع کیدی شي." په ښکاره ډول محکمه ورته پایلې ته رسیدلې، په 2007 کې پریکړه وکړه چې پلاټینیکس کولی شي په حقیقت کې د KI په سیمو کې تمرین وکړي.
د دې احساس لپاره چې د KI سیمې له څه سره مخ کیږي که چیرې د یورانیمو کان کیندنه ترسره شي، یو مثال شتون لري. د کاناډا تر ټولو مشهور د یورانیمو کان د ایلیوټ لیک کان و، چې په شمالي اونټاریو کې هم دی، چې 130 ملیون ټنه پنډۍ یې پریښودې او د سرپټ لیک اکوسیستم یې ویجاړ کړ پداسې حال کې چې د 1950 او 1960 کلونو د اټومي وسلو په جوړولو کې مرسته کوي (وګورئ. په ایلیوټ لیک کې د کان کیندنې څار پاڼه).
There are no non-toxic industrial mining methods (and certainly if there are they haven’t been discovered by Canadian mining companies), so people could be forgiven for asking whether it would be so bad to leave the stuff in the ground. Uranium after all is a material that is radioactive and poisonous and which, once used, is hazardous for thousands of years. In the words of Doreen Davis, another Algonquin leader who was sentenced to jail, "Uranium mining has no record other than environmental destruction and negative health issues". Uranium is a part of د اونټاریو‘s current energy mix. Nuclear power is being presented as a solution to climate change and the oil running out. But nuclear power, like ethanol, is a false solution. Ethanol offers a way to take huge amounts of agricultural land out of circulation so that societies can feed cars and starve people. Uranium offers a way to trade the dangers of climate change in for the dangers of radioactive poisoning and potential nuclear catastrophe. But in both cases, the rising prices are making it economically viable to further dispossess and destroy communities – in Latin America for ethanol, and in کاناډا for uranium.
Paul McKay, a friend and neighbour of Lovelace’s, made some other points about the mining in an op-ed in the Kingston Whig-Standard: "As even the mine promoter’s lawyer has admitted in court hearings, there is a vanishingly small chance a uranium mine will ever get built at the headwaters of the Mississippi River northwest of شربت Lake. Compared to other deposits in دسسکاچیوان, آسټرالیا, سویلي افریقا او اسیا, the ore is laughably low-grade, and the cost to mine fatally high." So, too, McKay argues, recalling the ایلیوټ لیک mines, would the pollution risk of trying to extract this low-grade uranium from these deposits.
The point of these jailings, McKay argues, is a two-fold political message. One, to the mining companies – the mineral wealth of the north is open to access and the government will clear any indigenous resistance out of the way. These include giants like the De Beers diamond company, which is operating in the north around the جیمز بی. Two, to the indigenous – that any resistance against the latest bonanza of extraction and destruction will be met with criminalization and brutal penalties. McKay also suggests that these mining companies might be looking, not for platinum or uranium, but for a government payoff "if the د اونټاریو government effectively pays it to go away. If this occurs, then it will be د اونټاریو taxpayers who end up being mined for millions. not uranium or platinum deposits."
This, too, has a recent د اونټاریو precedent – the Douglas Creek Estates on Six Nations Territory (ما په 2006 کې د ZNet لپاره د دې په اړه لیکلي). In that case as well, the د اونټاریو government is attempting the tactic of paying a massive amount of taxpayers’ money to a corporation to "go away". In addition to benefiting قیاس کونکي، دا د ځایی ادعاګانو کولو اضافي پروپاګند ګټه لري چې خورا ګران او "غیر عملي" ښکاري (په پای کې د فرعي فرعي برخو پراخول او د زهرجن یورانیم او پلاټینیم کانونو عملي کول د ورکړل شوي په توګه منل شوي).
دولتي لوبې او د خلکو غبرګون
کله چې د اغیزمنو ټولنو ځایي خلکو په تندر خلیج کې د 100,000 خلکو په ښارګوټي کې د زندانیانو په ملاتړ یو سمبولیک ، مقدس اور بل کړ ، د KI فرسټ نیشن څخه شاوخوا 600 کیلومتره لرې د زندانیانو په ملاتړ ، د ښار پولیسو او د اور وژنې مارشالونو دا اور اور واخیست - پخپله یو. ناوړه او سمبولیک اشاره.
لکه په نورو قضیو کې (د مثال په توګه د شان برانټ په اړه زما مقاله وګورئ), the government’s actions are narrowing options down to make resistance the only option for indigenous communities. A March 20 press release from First Nations of Sachigo Lake, Bearskin Lake, Muskrat Dam, Kasabonika, Wunnimun, Wapekeka, Kingfisher and Wawakapewin called for sustained opposition to the court’s decision and the mining companies stance. A group of Chiefs from the western Canadian ولایت of د بریتانیا د کولمبیا suggested the AFN (Assembly of First Nations) tear up its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), signed on March 4, 2008. "The community members have been jailed for protecting their Title and Rights to their territories and any continued relationship with the mining industry will be indelibly stained by these shocking events… Given the ugly, thuggish approach demonstrated thus far by the Courts and by the mining industry, it is of the utmost importance to show our support of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation and refuse to have any relationship with the mining industry." The Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) suspended mining-related negotiations with the د اونټاریو government the day after the KI leaders were sentenced. "It was a real insult to all first nations," Alvin Fiddler, Deputy Grand Chief of NAN, told reporters on March 19. AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine visited some of the jailed leaders in د تندر خلیج on March 22 and called the jailings an obstacle to peace. کاناډا‘s Anglican primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, wrote a letter on March 25 to د اونټاریو‘s premier saying the jailing arises "out of the continual imposition of the power and values of colonizers."
The Grand Chief of NAN, Stan Beardy, was quoted in the Kingston Whig-Standard arguing that other political considerations were at work. "The McGuinty government got labelled weak in dealing with کالیډونیا, and now they say, ‘We’re not weak and we’ll show you by throwing these Indians in jail…’ What is happening here is we’ve been criminalized for practising our way of living. The government wants to make an example of us. What’s being done is, once more, we’re being moved out of the way, our valuable resources are being exploited and everybody is benefiting except us."
وفاقي حکومت خاموشي اختيار کړې ده او په خپله خاموشي سره ئي دا مسله صوبې ته پريښوده او دا ئي پيغام ورکړو چې قومي مسله هيڅ قومي مسله نه ده۔ په هرصورت، د داخلي حقونو په اړه د هارپر رژیم نظرونو ته په پام سره — prominent Harper adviser, the پوهنتون of کلیګری‘s Thomas Flanagan, has argued in his book "First Nations? Second Thoughts", that "European civilization was several thousand years more advanced than the aboriginal cultures of North America" and that "the European colonization of North America was inevitable, and, if we accept the philosophical analysis of John Locke and Emer de Vattel, justifiable" — it is probably better that the Harper people not be involved. As for the provincial government, they are using familiar tactics. While the Superior Court imposes draconian sentences, the provincial government’s Aboriginal Affairs minister Michael Bryant offers a ‘compromise’ – in which the leaders don’t go to jail, pay only some of the fines, and allow the mining to continue. In other words, surrender. And despite having tried very hard to prevent jail sentences, Bryant says, he’s not willing to give up (presumably on trying to get the indigenous to give up).
خو حکومت او د کانونو د استخراج شرکتونه تر ډېره غوښتنه کوي. لکه څنګه چې دوی د نړۍ په نورو برخو کې کوي، د کانونو لیږدونکي هڅه کوي هغه ټولنې جلا کړي چې اغیزمن شوي. دوی له ځايي خلکو غواړي چې د ځمکې د لږ مقدار ویجاړولو ته رضايت ورکړي چې دوی ته پاتې دي، ترڅو ځینې شرکتونه وکولی شي د زهرجن فلزاتو په استخراج پیسې وګټي. که رضایت را نه شي، حکومتي چارواکي به زور وکاروي. مګر د ځواک کارولو لپاره، دوی به بیا هم کاناډایان قانع کړي چې دا د یورانیم، پلاټینیم، الماس یا پیسو لپاره د نورو خلکو ځمکې او معیشت ویجاړول ارزښت لري. دوی په کاناډایانو باندې شرط لګوي چې ناپوهه وي، یا بې رحمه وي.
Justin Podur is a Toronto-based writer and activist. He can be reached at [ایمیل خوندي شوی].
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