2007 Dec 13: Donna Dillman update; march this Thursday

In support of Donna Dillman, the Steelworker’s Union has organized a March on  the last day that the Legislature will be open.  Please join us.

Also please read on about what else you can do.  The situation is urgent, with Donna’s safety now very much at immediate risk.  I have gone on a juice fast myself in her support and will be in the Legislature with her today, tomorrow and Thursday after the march.  Our nominated candidate, Sharon Howarth, will be joining us as well.

March  against uranium mining
Thursday, 2007 December 13, 9:30 AM
Toronto CPT  Office
(Steelworkers’ Hall, 25 Cecil Street, Unit 307)

Join the  call for a moratorium on uranium mining and for respect for Aboriginal land  rights.

This coming Thursday is the last day the Ontario Legislature sits  until February 2008, so it is a crucial week to let our voices be heard  regarding Aboriginal land rights and uranium mining. Grandmother Donna Dillman  is into her third month without food and will reduce her intake to water only if  no action is effected by the Premier by Tuesday at Noon.  She is calling for a  moratorium and public inquiry into uranium exploration and mining in Ontario,  and in recent weeks has been holding vigil at Queens Park.

Please plan on  participating in a procession from the CPT office to the legislature on the  morning of Thursday, December 13 to join Donna Dillman and to add our voices to  the thousands who have already spoken out.  We will gather at the CPT office  at  9:30 AM.  Fair Trade coffee will be waiting for you!  From there we will proceed  to the Ontario Legislature for a time of public witness.  Further details to  follow.  (It would be helpful if you could let us know that you are hoping to  join us).

Urgent Appeal

Donna Dillman urgently needs your  support.  For 65 days, this 53-year old grandmother has not been eating,  subsisting only on juices to draw attention to the issue of new uranium mines  being opened up in Eastern Ontario.  Premier McGuinty has not responded to her  call for an independent public committee of inquiry into uranium mining before  uranium mines are opened.  The Legislature is about to close for Christmas this  Thursday and will not reopen until February.  Because she fears she will not  last until February, Donna has taken the drastic step of escalating her hunger  strike to water-only, in the hopes of bringing attention to the issue.

A  water-only diet can be lethal within weeks, and Donna is no longer strong.   There is also an urgency around the fact that the Legislature is about to  close.

For Donna’s safety, please write or call Premier McGuinty and  ask your friends to join you.  Help us flood his office with calls and emails  over the next few days.

Ask for a moratorium on uranium mining in  Eastern Ontario, and the creation of an independent public committee to look  into uranium mining.  A suggested letter and mailing instructions can be found  at the end of this message.

Donna’s is a very reasonable request.  A  provincial Royal Commission on Electric Power Planning recommended in 1978 that  Ontario create an independent committee such as the one Donna asks for, because  they recognized the serious and increasing health and environmental challenges  associated with uranium mining.  Such a committee has never been created.   Premier McGuinty has a moral duty to create this committee before embarking on  the opening up of more uranium mines.  It’s just common sense.

Nor is  there any need to hurry into the creation of new uranium mines.  Reserves in  existing mines have 40 years worth of uranium remaining, and most of our uranium  is exported.  There is no need to rush into the destruction of yet another  community from uranium mining.

Want to do more?

Join  Donna
Fast with Donna while the Legislature sits to show your support.   Join for an afternoon, a day or until Thursday.  Contact Peter Tabuns’s office  at 416-325-3250 and tell him you’d like to join Donna.  Your presence is most  helpful during Question Period, 1:30-3 pm daily.

or

Fast for a  day, write to the Premier and tell him about it and donate the money saved to  CCAMU (see the link below).

For more information on Donna Dillman’s  hunger strike and the facts around uranium mining, visit the site of the  Canadian Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU):
www.ccamu.ca

Or visit  the site of the Canadian Coaltion for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR) here:
www.ccnr.org

Also, see a  video of Donna’s latest announcement at Queen’s Park here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoB-xpPF7pE

Below is a  proposed letter to Premier McGuinty.
Please send email or fax, or  call:

Premier McGuinty
Queen’s Park
Room 281, Main Legislative  Building
Toronto, ON  M7A 1A4
Tel: 416-325-1941
Fax: 416-325-3745
www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/feedback.asp

Send a  copy to Donna Dillman’s assistant at
Lynn Daniluk 

Dear Premier McGuinty,

I’m  writing to you today because I am concerned about the health of Donna Dillman, a  53-year old Ontario grandmother who is on the 66th day of her hunger  strike for a moratorium on uranium mining in Eastern Ontario. She has announced  that she will move to a water-only regime today if her appeal is not met. As you  must know, she cannot go many weeks on water-only. Her life is very much in  danger.

Mr. Premier, Ms. Dillman’s request for a full public inquiry into  uranium mining is very reasonable. In September 1978, an Ontario Royal  Commission on Electric Power Planning, recognizing the health and environmental  problems associated with uranium mining and mill tailings, recommended the  establishment of an independent review committee of “internationally recognized  ecologists” to study the challenges of uranium mining. Such a committee has  never been established. Donna is simply asking your government to follow  recommendations that have been before it for almost 30 years before embarking on  a course of action that could poison many Ontario communities.

There is  no reason to rush ahead with mining.  Canada already has uranium reserves that  could last for 40 years.  We export 85% of our uranium. On what possible grounds  would you want to resist meeting her requests?

I ask you to do what’s  right and let Donna Dillman eat her Christmas meal with her  grandchildren.

Sincerely,

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