An open letter from a Caledonia Resident re: Nuclear Power

Ms. Bergstrand commented recently in the newspaper that it is in the best interest of Haldimand County and the people of Ontario to have a nuclear power plant built in this county versus upgrading the current coal fired plant to make it environmentally effective as proposed by the Conservatives.

Ms. Bergstrand should provide the answers to the following questions to support her comments regarding nuclear energy versus the current coal fired plant in Nanticoke.  This is critical since Mr. Barrett has provided the estimated cost of upgrading the coal fired plant already in place.

• 1. What is the total cost today of building a nuclear power plant to the taxpayers of Ontario?
• 2. What is the total annual cost to taxpayers of Ontario to maintain a nuclear power plant compared to the total annual cost of coal fired and hydroelectric plants?
• 3. What is the total annual downtime of the existing nuclear power plants compared to the downtime of coal fired plants and hydroelectric plants?
• 4. What is the total annual cost of offshore hydro purchases due to existing nuclear reactor downtime?
• 5. The 70% increase in hydro stated by Premier McGuinty is not acceptable.
• a. How much of the 70% increase is due to offshore hydro purchases?
• b. How much of the 70% increase is due to the shut down of the coal fired plants without having replacements built before they are shut down?
• c. How much of the 70% increase is due to nuclear power plants being more expensive than coal or hydroelectric hydro generation methods?
• 6. What percentage of the debt retirement portion of the monthly hydro bill is a direct result of the cost of existing nuclear power plants?
• 7. What is the cost impact of hydro distribution to Ontario taxpayers as a result of the hydro lines through Caledonia not being completed due to the DCE occupation?

Edit: If anyone can provide the answers to these questions, please send the info along with a source if possible to Jeff@CaledoniaWakeupCall.com and I will gladly publish it. Please specify whether you want your name published with the response.

OPP use curfew to tackle mischief in Haldimand

Haldimand OPP have taken the unusual step of issuing a curfew for young people to combat mischief.On the weekend, Haldimand police plucked three young people off the streets and took them home. In each case, the parents weren’t aware their children were out, police said in a news release.

In one incident, some young people were found under the Caledonia bridge breaking bottles. One youth was charged, while others fled the scene, sending text messages to their friends warning them not to come, say police.

Police believe word of their crackdown on mischief must have spread because their were only six mischief incidents reported over the weekend and most of them were minor. The exception was some graffiti spray painted on buildings in Dunnville. Most of the words and images were directed at police.

Under the Child and Family Services Act, police are able to take any child under 16 off the street if they are in a public place between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. and not accompanied by an adult. Police may take a child home or to a place of safety.

Courtesy of www.CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

See related article here

Don’t inflame moraine debate – Waterloo is not Caledonia

The Record
July 31, 2007

Waterloo is not Caledonia. It is a different place with a different history and, most significantly for this discussion, no ongoing dispute with any Canadian First Nations community.

So why is David Wellhauser suddenly suggesting that the aboriginal protests that have rocked the town of Caledonia could erupt in the city of Waterloo? Why is Wellhauser, who has until now made reasoned arguments against three Waterloo subdivisions, grasping at a ridiculous, possibly dangerous straw in the campaign to stop the developments from being built? Why, indeed?

This week Wellhauser warned that if the region ignores aboriginal interests in Waterloo’s west side developments, it risks seeing a replay of the tensions that have gripped Caledonia for more than a year. Though Wellhauser didn’t specify what people in this community might have to look forward to, anyone familiar with the Six Nations occupation of a Caledonia subdivision knows it was marred last year by vandalism, violence, assaults, arrests as well as criminal charges, and that the occupation continues to this day. (Edit: Let’s call it like it is here. It’s a threat of a Terrorist attack)

Let’s be perfectly blunt here. The suggestion that these developments are on land claimed by an aboriginal community is without foundation. There is no outstanding aboriginal claim to any land in Waterloo Region, except to the bed and banks of the Grand River itself. And the west-side Waterloo lands are far from the river.

Read the full story here

Critics say Kashechewan aid plan ignores flood reality

OTTAWA – An agreement to rebuild a flood-ravaged native reserve at its existing location has forced officials from the community and the Harper government on the defensive over accusations they were ignoring advice from a federal report and the will of the local population.

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice signed the new deal Monday with Kashechewan chief Jonathon Solomon. It closed the door to two other options – to relocate the low-lying James Bay community to higher ground within its traditional territory, or to shift the reserve about 450 kilometres south to Timmins, Ont, as proposed by federal adviser Alan Pope.

Solomon, who insisted earlier this spring that his Cree community wanted to relocate, said a majority of residents changed their mind in recent weeks after a lengthy consultation process.

A survey of residents from March found that a majority wanted to move to higher ground but stay within the boundaries of their traditional territory. Prentice said the $500-million price tag was too high.

But opposition Liberals and New Democrats suggested the government was letting down the Cree community that has been evacuated three times since 2004 because of spring flooding and a tainted water crisis. (Edit: and we all know what a great track record the Liberals have in dealing with Native issues)

Read the full story here

Sides in uranium dispute seek truce; Judge asks for compromise to be found until trial starts in September

Kingston Whig-Standard

Both sides of a dispute over a potential uranium mine north of Kingston hope to reach a temporary truce as early as Thursday.Frontenac Ventures Corp. has asked the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to grant a permanent injunction against protesters who are blocking the entrance to a uranium prospecting area north of Sharbot Lake.

If granted, the court could potentially force the protesters to leave, among other options. (Edit: Not with a police force who refuse to enforce court orders against Natives)

Frontenac Ventures is also suing the protesters for $77 million.

The protesters, members of the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquin Nations, are counter-suing Frontenac Ventures and plan to ask the court to kick the prospecting firm off the land.

The judge asked Reid, Smitheman and Stephen Reynolds, who represents the Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquin, to return Thursday with a point-form, one-page list of concessions that they hope the other side will make for them.

Read the full story here

Native leaders’ help needed to solve crime problem: councillor

CBC News

A Winnipeg city councillor says it’s “high time” for aboriginal leaders in the city to work with governments to help put an end to a crime wave that has kept city police hopping.

Winnipeg police say they have never seen call volumes as high as this summer.

After another violent weekend in the city — with at least three stabbings, one fatal — police spokesman Sgt. Kelly Dennison said Monday that police officers are literally running from call to call.

Harry Lazarenko, city councillor for the Mynarski ward, said his area sees violent crime every night, and he’s received calls from constituents who are afraid to leave their homes.

The longtime city councillor called on aboriginal leaders in the city to get involved in solving problem.

“My concern is, where are the native leaders? They are heard any other time,” said Lazarenko, who lives on Magnus Avenue, which has been the scene of several shootings this year.

“I’m asking these aboriginal leaders to get involved because this is the biggest — you know, people that are having problems is with them — they’ve got young kids, they’re leading a life of crime. They’re dying.”

Read the full story here

Island band passes treaty with 90% vote

The Huu-ay-aht First Nation of the west coast of Vancouver Island has become the second band in the province to ratify a treaty under the B.C. Treaty Commission.

The 615-member band, which has its home village at Pachena Bay near Bamfield, voted 90 per cent in favour of adopting the Maa-Nulth Treaty on Saturday. The results were announced Sunday. Of the 303 eligible Huu-ay-aht voters who took part, 272 approved the document that will grant the band self-government and 8,258 hectares of land, as well as cash, access to fisheries, forestry and other economic opportunities the band values at $145 million. (Edit: That’s $345 Million so far this week being given to Natives for those keeping score of their tax dollars)

Reaction to the vote was overwhelmingly positive.

Read the full story here

Ottawa to rebuild troubled Cree reserve

CTV.ca News Staff

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice signed an agreement Monday to rebuild, but not relocate, a northern Ontario reserve that has been plagued by flooding and a dirty water crisis.

The Tories say the deal will provide funding to develop a plan that will address skills development, reserve housing, health and economic investments, public safety and school and community facilities.

The deal, which Prentice signed alongside Kashechewan Chief Jonathan Solomon in Ottawa, comes at a cost of $200 million over five to seven years.

“It is an agreement that respects the desire expressed by Kashechewan residents to remain in its current location,” said Prentice.

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Aid for native children coming?; County vying for money to get child-care spaces

Barrie Examiner

Simcoe County’s aboriginal children might be getting some much-needed day-care space later this year.The county is among 14 others in the running for funding from the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services to provide specified aboriginal child-care spaces for off-reserve children.

“We’ve consulted with aboriginal families and identified clearly the need for specific, aboriginally-run child care services off the reserve in the county,” said Greg Bishop, the county’s manager of children and community services. “We’re excited about this and it’s good news for the county. It’s a first step to addressing all gaps in availability of aboriginal child services.”

The development of these child care spaces is an expansion project funded by the Ministry’s Best Start program, introduced in November 2004.

Read the full story here

Ottawa to rebuild, but not relocate, flood-prone Kashechewan reserve: sources

OTTAWA (CP) – Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice will sign an agreement Monday toward rebuilding, but not moving, the flood-prone Kashechewan First Nation, The Canadian Press has learned.

The remote northern Ontario reserve of about 1,800, near the coast of James Bay, is on low-lying land that has flooded twice in the last three years. Residents were also evacuated in 2005 because of a dirty water crisis that made international headlines.

Total relocation costs for the community were estimated at $500 million. The Conservatives said the Liberals never officially budgeted that cash, and that it’s too expensive to move the reserve.

Instead, sources say the new agreement will establish a working group to assess the First Nation’s long-and short-term needs, but will not move it off the flood plain.

Liberal MP and former Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott was under intense pressure when he jumped through a series of bureaucratic hoops to approve the relocation, he has said.

His most outraged opposition critics at the time included Stephen Harper, now prime minister, and Prentice.

Since becoming Indian Affairs minister, Prentice has said it makes more sense to fortify the flood dike and rebuild existing infrastructure worth about $200 million.

Read the full story here