Status: 

On February 27, 2008, Ottawa City Council voted 18 to 1 in favour of a motion calling on the province to impose an immediate moratorium on uranium prospecting, exploration and mining in eastern Ontario and the Ottawa River watershed and to keep it in effect until:

• All environmental and health issues related to uranium mining are "resolved."
• There are settlement plans for all related aboriginal land claims.

The same motion calls on the province to do a public review of its 1990 Mining Act.

The motion had been unanimously recommended by the city's community and protective services committee on February 7th, 2008, after the city received a petition with 1,000 signatures opposing uranium mining and exploration in eastern Ontario.

For more information see: 

http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/occ/2008/02-27/cpsc/reportindex19A.htm

As of May 14, 2008, Premier Dalton McGuinty has not responded.

Thank you Ottawa City Council members who voted in favour of the moratorium and everyone who signed the petition and wrote letters to Council!

This is a copy of the letter City of Ottawa Councillor Diane Holmes sent to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty on Wednesday May 14th, 2008, regarding a Moratorium on Uranium Mineral Prospecting, Exploration and Mining in Eastern Ontario.

The Honourable Dalton McGuinty, MPP

Ottawa South

Premier and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs 900 Bay Street 6th Floor, Mowat Block Toronto, ON, M7A 1C2

Dear Dalton McGuinty

Re: Moratorium on Uranium Mineral Prospecting, Exploration and Mining in Eastern Ontario

On 27 February 2008, Ottawa City Council approved recommendations to:

1. Petition the Province of Ontario to initiate an immediate moratorium on uranium mineral prospecting, exploration and mining in Eastern Ontario and the Ottawa River watershed until such a time that all environmental and health issues related to uranium mining are resolved and that there are settlement plans for all related native land claims.

2. Petition the Province of Ontario to undertake an immediate comprehensive public review of the Mining Act, 1990.

As of May 1st, 2008 neither the City nor I have received a response from your Government on this matter.

Uranium mineral prospecting, exploration and mining are issues of great concern for many urban and rural residents of Eastern Ontario Municipalities including residents of your home riding, the City of Ottawa.

The area of exploration staked by Frontenac Ventures, located near Sharbot Lake, falls within the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, a City of Ottawa watershed and on the historic lands of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation.

The City’s Chief Medical Office of Health - Dr. David Salisbury, has commented, "The route of exposure to radiation by-products to humans is through the aquifer (disturbing underground rock formations that could permit leaching of gases into aquifers) and to a lesser extent, the release of radiation by-products into the air. The by-products include radon gas, as well as several other decay products more hazardous than radon."

Accordingly, "these human health concerns require that uranium mining and exploration be carefully regulated and only approved where a proper human health risk assessment has been done."

However, as I am sure that you are aware, this type of activity can proceed without authorization from the municipality, conservation authority or having to undergo environmental review of assessment.

With that in mind I would like to know what progress your government has made with regard to a comprehensive public review of the Mining Act, 1990. It is imperative that the Province of Ontario addresses this critical issue, as the current provisions allow for corporations to make unregulated and potentially devastating claims on private property.

Additionally when will the Government of Ontario acknowledge the request by the majority of Eastern Ontario municipalities’ and initiate an immediate moratorium on uranium mining?

Furthermore, please advise me as to when Dr. Robert Lovelace will be freed and exonerated from his wrongful conviction and subsequent incarceration. I cannot understand how this government can sit by idly, while a gentle and peaceful man is forced to sit behind bars with common criminals as a result of his pursuit for social and environmental justice and the protection of our shared watershed.

I along with the concerned residents of the City of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario await your governments’ reply.

Sincerely,

Diane Holmes

Councillor Somerset Ward - City of Ottawa