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,
| — Adriana Mugnatto-Hamu on 2007 Dec 11 in Ecology & sustainability, News, Participatory democracy, Videos |
