KI Win Right To Say No, But Only For 5 Days

From www.chroniclejournal.com

Local
Jailed KI leaders released
By Jim Kelly
Saturday, May 24, 2008

The KI six are free, but their freedom may be short-lived.
The jailed Kitchenuhumaykoosib Inninuwug leaders were released Friday from the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre pending an appeal next Wednesday in the Ontario Court of Appeal.
If the appeal by KI lawyer Chris Reid is unsuccessful, the six will be returned to jail to serve the remaining time on their six-month sentence.
KI Chief Donny Morris, deputy chief Jack McKay, head councillor Cecilia Begg, councillors Sam McKay, Darryl Sainnawap and band member Bruce Sakakeep were released following an agreement between KI, the Ontario government and junior mining exploration company Platinex.
Platinex has agreed not to access KI territory for mining exploration from May 23 to 29.
The KI six have agreed to obey the court injunction not to interfere with Platinex‘s exploration for the same period.
It was a chaotic scene at the Travelodge Airlane motel where family, friends and supporters held a welcoming party for the six.
They were scheduled to take a flight home to Big Trout Lake, about 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, later Friday.
�It‘s good to be out,� Morris said. �It‘s good to see family and community membership surrounding me.�
Morris praised the correctional centre staff for their treatment of the leaders and said Thunder Bay should be proud of the people who work there.
He looked at the jail term as a sign that God wanted him to take a rest.
�It was a break for us,� he said.
�We have a lot of work to do. We want our own negotiations at our own table.
�We need some kind of sincere gesture from Ontario that they will take us seriously,� Morris said.
He said all First Nations have to be involved in negotiating changes to the Mining Act.
�Some communities want to go into that business and some don‘t,� he said.
Sakakeep said he plans to relax with his three daughters and son over the next few days.
He agreed with Morris that the jail experience went well.
�It was really accommodating and the atmosphere was pretty good,� he said.
Sam McKay said, if anything, the jail term has strengthened the resolve of the KI six.
�After these last two months to be in there, we‘ve been doing a lot of thinking,� he said.
He‘s not concerned about going back to jail.
�We prepared ourselves right from the beginning to do the full six months.�
Jack McKay said the experience has been more than worth it. �We‘re trying to protect our traditional territory,� he said.
�It‘s still pristine and the water is still fresh. We‘re fighting for our homeland.�
Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Stan Beardy welcome the jailed leaders and said they shouldn‘t have lost their freedom because the province failed to properly consult and accommodate First Nations.
�It is important that the government work with First Nation leadership on the issues that led to their imprisonment,� he said.
Meanwhile the conditional release of the KI six was welcomed in Big Trout Lake.
�The community is very excited and is busy making preparations to celebrate their release,� said KI councillor Susan Nonokeesic.
KI lawyer Chris Reid said the bottom line is there will be no remission of the six-month sentence unless the KI six obey the court injunction.
�I‘m sure they‘ll be back in jail,� he said Friday from Toronto.
�Many other First Nation leaders will go to jail if the government of Ontario doesn‘t change the mining laws to give First Nation communities the right to say no over exploration on their territory.
�As long as they don‘t have that right, this (jail terms) will happen again and again,� Reid said.
Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said he’s pleased the KI 6 have been released pending the decision of the appeal.
Gravelle said the Ontario government is in the midst of a significant review of the Mining Act.
�We are certainly conscious of the concerns on both sides,� he said.
�Our absolute priority is to meet our duty to consult and that’s paramount with us.�
Gravelle confirmed the province has requested that the appeal of the KI six be allowed and that they should be subject to no further sanctions given the time already served.

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