The Canadian National Newspaper: Gramma Eats Again in Protest Over Uranium

While on a 68-day hunger strike to protest uranium exploration at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, which flows into the Ottawa River, a unique opportunity to distinguish between needs and wants presented itself.

Living on the side of the road, just north of Sharbot Lake -- an hour and a half southwest of Ottawa -- in an unheated tent trailer outside the exploration site, it was the cold that got to me, not the hunger. I started the protest on Thanksgiving Monday, October 8th. My intake consisted of drinks only -- maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper in hot water, herbal teas, and warmed fresh juices. Due to the cold nights and the fact that I had nothing in me to metabolize and, therefore, create heat, I wasn’t able to get much sleep, and began feeling weak in strength, if not in spirit.

Eventually a wood stove was installed in a large semi-trailer and I moved in out of the cold and began to get some restful, glorious sleep and regained some energy. There was no electricity at the site, but donated solar panels were installed so that I could get a phone and connect up to the world. I wanted a phone, for obvious reasons, but it was clear to me that I did not need one. I needed warmth.

During my sojourn, personal support came in numerous, unexpected and appreciated ways. People knit me socks, donated: warm clothing, which I dawned - five layers thick; a –25 degree sleeping bag; firewood, juices and teas were delivered, money donated, prayers said, a nurse checked my blood pressure and pulse regularly, and thousands wrote letters to the Premier and government ministers.

While living so simply, I had plenty of time to consider which desires fulfilled today will undermine the well-being of my children and grandchildren and those not yet born.

Having traveled extensively with my husband, author Mike Nickerson, I knew that as a society, it is time we grew up and realized that we live on a finite planet; that we must begin to live on Earth as if we want to stay.

This is not rocket science. It is simply a matter of changing direction. And not the kind of directional change that our current leaders are proposing. What they propose amounts to little more than having us get up from our seats and walk back toward the caboose, while the train continues toward the cliff.

We must turn the train around, not turn our backs while the train heads for disaster. It is our generation that has brought us to the precipice. It is up to us to pull back before it is too late. What will the Fisher Price toys and the RESPs mean when our grandchildren’s soil is unusable, their water undrinkable and their air unbreathable?

When my daughter informed me that exploration for uranium was set to begin near my home, an ‘on the ground’ example of how not to proceed presented itself. Once disturbed, uranium is one of the most deadly minerals on earth. No one argues this. Radon gas releases into the atmosphere when uranium is disturbed and, according to Health Canada and the U.S. Surgeon General, it is the second leading cause of lung cancer, after smoking.

Elliot Lake and the Serpent River System, which drains into the Great Lakes, were contaminated in the 80's and contamination continues to this day. I visited there in September and witnessed for myself the uranium tailings, 30 to 40 feet high, stretching out mile after mile. Each of the dozen or so sites has a treatment plant that will have to be maintained in perpetuity. Such are the burdens we are leaving to those not yet born.

Numerous and ongoing cancers, birth defects and a myriad of other illnesses are the legacy of such shortsighted economic development. The deadly consequences that will result in our community if drilling is allowed to commence, is yet another example of our lack of acknowledgement that community and the environment are at least as important as money.

Though the local Algonquin populations, with the help of many hundreds of non-Natives, were successful in holding off the exploratory drills for 101 days and were set to go into negotiations with the government, more needed doing. After hearing one of the Chiefs comment that, “One can live a long time without food, but clean water is essential to all life, I realized the truth in that and stopped eating. Food and eating are symbolic of well-being and I hoped to help increase awareness around the risks inherent in uranium exploration.

In truth, I'd like to see a moratorium on uranium in the whole of Ontario, all of Canada, the entire world for that matter, but I couldn't 'bite off more than I can chew" in the short term, hence my concentration on Eastern Ontario, where my grandchildren eat, drink and breathe.

I personally handwrote ten letters to Premier Dalton McGuinty, hoping to elicit an emotional response, since his kids would be affected too, and to help him understand why drilling for uranium in Eastern Ontario was neither necessary nor desirable.

When no answer was forthcoming from the Premier, I participated in a Public Witness planned by the Christian Peacemakers, an organization that had been at the site on and off since September. I hand delivered a final letter to McGuinty’s constituency office, only to be locked out for most of three hours. Because of the bone-chilling cold and intervention by the Major Event Liaison Team (MELT) OPP officers present, I was permitted inside long enough to warm up and to respond to the letter the Premier had had couriered to my home that very day. Others visiting with letters of their own, remained relegated to the cold.

Back at the site, I learned that if I did not move my tent trailer I risked being held in contempt of court. With all that was transpiring around me, I elected, on November 27th, to move my protest to Queen’s Park. The expectation was that there would be more media interest in the Big Smoke and that it would be a further opportunity to increase awareness. Already we had educated people to the fact that uranium was found in southern Ontario, as well as in the north.

My one concern was that the city would not offer the kind of support I’d experienced at the site. I need not have worried. Everything flowed very easily. Friends were heading to Toronto and offered me a lift. Several people opened their homes and I split my time between two of them. One of my hosts was a nutritionalist and, as my body began to suffer from the lack of nutrients, she was able to advise me on herb tea remedies. She also directed me to a Naturopath who saw me twice in the sixteen days I was there.

A fellow Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium joined me, driving me around, connecting me with media, and arranging for print materials. In his absence, he arranged for a friend to drove me daily. Donations were offered and accepted.

Peter Tabuns, NDP Environment Critic and his assistant offered me use of their office for rest and respite from the cold. As well, he introduced me in the Legislature daily, repeatedly announcing which day of my hunger strike I was on and why I was there.

Having got some good press on arrival at Queen’s Park, the Premier met with me my second day there. He advised that uranium exploration is required upriver of his children (and mine) to support Ontario’s nuclear generated electricity. When advised, he confessed, as did Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines, that he was not aware that 80% of Canada's uranium is exported. (The Canadian Nuclear Association website states that 85% is exported - 76% to the U.S.)

While the Premier committed to researching the data and getting back to me, he did not, though I was there for another fifteen days. However, while sitting in the legislature, I heard him state, with passion, “I depend on my government to provide clean water and air.” In a letter, he wrote, "Strong environmental protection is the foundation of the high quality of life and sustainable economic growth we enjoy in our province."

Drilling for uranium clearly does not protect the environment and puts air, land and water at risk. As uranium is a non-renewable resource, it won’t resolve our energy problems, though it will eat up billions of dollars that could be spent more wisely on renewables, conservation and increased efficiency. At most, nuclear energy it is a band-aid that could get us through a few decades while deteriorating health and quality of life for a thousand generations. Further, when the entire life cycle is included, from exploring for uranium, to what to do with the waste at both ends, the idea that nuclear energy is clean and green is one of the most deceptive and dangerous scams ever perpetrated.

When governments fail to protect its people, citizens can, and must, fill the void. On December 13th, as the Legislature prepared to recess for the holiday, the Citizen’s Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) announced a Citizen’s Inquiry into the question. Greenpeace, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Suzuki Foundation, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Voice of Women, Students Against Climate Change, Mining Watch Canada and Sierra Club of Canada have agreed to participate in the hearings, scheduled for early 2008. Several other groups and individuals will also be stepping forward in this regard.

With this announcement, my hunger strike came to an end, much to my relief and that of some thousands of supporters around the world. In all, I spent 68 days without food, (with the final two on water only, hoping to encourage that meeting with McGuinty).

My body suffered somewhat and I’m about 30 pound lighter, but my health is intact. I am retraining my stomach to accept food, starting with small amounts of mashed vegetables and well-cooked grains, herbs and spices. If I am careful, I will be able to participate in a traditional Christmas dinner with my family.

We do not inherit the Earth from our parents to use up like there is no tomorrow. We borrow the Earth from our children and have the responsibility to treat it with the respect that such a loan deserves.

While we continue to work together to insure a world where those not yet born will lead healthy, happy lives, let’s never give up hope that such a world is possible. Differentiating between needs and wants is a good place to begin.

My daily blog and lots of background info can be found at: LINK.

As far as I’m aware, the fact that many, many hundreds of non-Native’s supported the Native blockade with food, water, supplies and financial donations in their effort to stop the drills, is historic.

The MELT team kept communications open between the stakeholders outside the gate and with the OPP. The Aboriginal Relations Team (ART) kept communications open between the Aboriginals and the OPP, and, in the early stages, actually lived inside the blockade with the Natives. These teams were a result of the Ipperwash Inquiry, and have garnered attention worldwide because of the success of this mission.

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