KI Six on Temporary Release, Frontenac Makes Sure Lovelace Remains in Solitary

Ontario Political News - Clip 10 (limit
500) May 23 2008 16:03:00 - Source: POL [The Canadian Press]

Six jailed aboriginal leaders get temporary release no thanks to
province: Lawyer (Aboriginal-Mining-Arr) TORONTO _ Six northern
**>Ontario<** aboriginal leaders jailed as part of a dispute with a
mining exploration company were released today.

But lawyer Chris Reid says it's a temporary victory and that the members
of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation could be back in
jail next week.

He says the six KI members were only released because the company
Platinex Inc., promised not to bring an exploration crew onto disputed
land before their next appearance before the Appeal Court on May 28.

In turn, the KI members agreed not to go on the land before then and
were released on their own recognizance.

Reid says the Appeals Court decision today did nothing for Bob Lovelace
of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation in eastern Ontario, who remains in
solitary confinement on a hunger strike for a similar breach.

The KI group was arrested in March for breaching a court order that
allowed Platinex to begin drilling on their traditional lands
unobstructed.

Reid says the province has done nothing to resolve the dispute and that
if it doesn't immediately amend the Mining Act, it will have to build a
prison for political prisoners.