http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=0f3672a9-30f0-4e22-b081-626902d733da
Fontaine lashed out at the federal government for jailing Chief Donny Morris and other members of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), an Aboriginal community in northern Ontario for refusing to allow mineral exploration on their traditional lands by a Toronto-based company.
A court order in October gave the company permission to drill but Morris and his band set up a protest camp at the exploration site. Last week the protesters, including a grandmother of seven, were sentenced to six months in a Thunder Bay jail for contempt.
"This is a shameful and serious matter," Fontaine said. "Quite clearly, this is a case where the federal and provincial governments failed to meet their legal duty to consult and accommodate First Nations interests prior to approving projects that significantly affect the lands and lives of First Nations citizens.
"Yet these same governments will protect private financial interests by jailing our people who defend their right. These decisions . . . criminalize legitimate descent and that reflects a lack of understanding or worse, contempt for aboriginal rights and Canadian law. This is why treaties matter."
Fontaine also berated Ottawa for not being a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous People. Of 192 member states, all but four supported the declaration.
