Letters_08-09

Jeff Green | Mar 06, 2008

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Re:Bob Lovelace Sentenced 6 Months, Ron Carmichael

Invisible Nuclear Particles, Sulyn Cedar

Fine Unnecessary, Brittany Taylor

Did the stiff sentence handed down by Superior Court “Justice” Cunningham really surprise anyone? It sure as heck didn`t surprise this guy. After all, big money and influence seem to have the courts in their pockets. Seems like the whole court side of the issue might have been dealt with long before Cunningham passed his sentence for contempt on Mr. Lovelace and Paula Sherman and the others. I just expected a little more deliberation (and fairness?) on the judge`s part. A case of this magnitude might have been a little too complex for a deputy judge to hear. I really believe it should have been taken to the Supreme Court of Canada and there the case could have been drawn out, much to the chagrin of Frontenac Ventures and our “esteemed Premier of Ontario”. It could have been tied up for years with appeals, etc., eventually wearing down the resolve of the mining company and all those determined to ruin our lands and the health of our children. All sides would have at least equal consideration and perhaps the outcome would have been more favourable.

I believe that the sentence passed down to Mr. Lovelace trampled on his rights: the right to peaceful protest, the right to freedom of opinion and his beliefs. I also believe strongly that the sentence was intended to silence Mr.Lovelace and any others committed to voicing their opinions.

I’d like to say to Mr.Lovelace,…you are a hero! I say this because you backed up what you believe in and stood your ground! I’ve never met you personally but from what I have read about you in this fine newspaper and heard about you since this issue first started, I have to say that I have nothing but great respect for you and your allies in this cause.

Based on your personal convictions, I’m sure that you sleep well at night. I wonder though, how does the other side sleep!?

Ron Carmichael

I appreciate this paper's role in facilitating a public discussion about issues that are important to our community.Decades ago I saw a political cartoon with a survivalist standing in the arctic, all bundled up with arms outstretched, proclaiming his safety and freedom far from civilization. Invisible nuclear particles were spinning all around him.My utopian dreamer back-to-the-land bubble burst.I realized that there's no place on earth that's safe from nuclear madness. How could I raise healthy children in an apparently clean and beautiful countryside that shares air and water with an industrial society that creates and releases deadly particles as a matter of business as usual?Making nuclear energy and nuclear weapons includes waste products that science still doesn't know what to do with. We are stockpiling millions of tons of radioactive waste that dangerously degrade over thousands of years.

Stopping the uranium mine in our backyards is about protecting us here, now.It’s also about doing our level best as global citizens to protect and preserve our beautiful planet.We must stop really bad ideas like nuclear power and weapons from becoming more cancers, more birth defects, more species extinctions and tons more radioactive waste for generations to come.

Taking action means doing something, whatever's in your heart to do.Join us in the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium at www.ccamu.ca and sign on to the Uranium News, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Together we will create a kinder, gentler, more peaceful world.

Sulyn Cedar

I am writing to you on behalf of Mr.Balogh's grade 10 civics class at Sydenham High School on the matter of your article "Lovelace Sentenced 6 Months For Contempt of Court". We believe that we would have to agree that Robert Lovelace was doing the best that he could for the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation but then the law has to get involved- just like they do with everything else that gets "out of control".

It really isn't fair the way some of us treat aboriginals- it's as if we have all forgotten where we have come from. None of us are actually pure-bred Canadians because Canada is made up of immigrants. We should look at it the way that they would see it through their own eyes. To be quite honest we don't think that they would take complete control over everything the way we have.

We do realize that every time that people protest (whether they're aboriginal or not) they have their own costs- it could be their lives, their job, personal possesions or maybe it comes with a cost like a fine or jail time, just like Robert Lovelace had to face. We do belive that Robert Lovelace should have been put in jail for failing to listen to and respect a court order but we don't believe that a $25,000 fine is neccessary.

As for the matter of Paula Sherman, we agree with the court’s decision to let her go so that her children would remain in her custody. We do not, however, agree with the outrageous amount that she has been fined. We believe that she should be punished in some way for failing to respect a court order but a fine of that amount is pointless.

Sincerely, Brittney Taylor