Calzavara makes a creative message beside Lake 222 at the Experimental Lakes Area.
Federal funding for the Experimental Lakes Area ends today.
Council of Canadians organizer Mark Calzavara and Thunder Bay chapter activist John Caldwell have camped on site at the ELA in northern Ontario for the past two nights.
Kenora Online reports, “During his overnight stay, Calzavara had a chance to speak with some of the scientists at the facility. ‘They’re quite concerned about the facility being shut down. They’re worried about what is going to happen with the science. They don’t know what’s going to happen with their jobs as well,’ he said.”
On Saturday afternoon about 15 people came together at the remote location to defend the facility.
The news report notes, “Remi Lorteau is a Sioux Lookout resident who joined the rally, and he explains that he’s heard international praise for the ELA ‘It was quoted in one of the articles that came from one Dr. Brian Moss, that this was the gift to the research world, I was very impressed that somebody from that far away would come out and say this about Canadians’, he said.”
Sioux Lookout resident Anne Saltel was also at the rally. She said, “I just want to be there, have a presence and make people aware of the cause, it they aren’t already. It’s so unfortunate that the environment and science don’t seem to mean anything to the conservative government.”
The Chronicle Journal adds, “Thunder Bay members of The Council of Canadians want Ontario to provide interim funding to the Experimental Lakes Area until an operator can be found… Members of the citizens’ group and its supporters staged a one-hour sit-in on Saturday at the Ontario Government Building in the city to raise awareness of the issue. …Thunder Bay Council of Canadians spokeswoman Ruth Cook said that the issue is important ‘because one of our major concerns is water: world-wide shortage of water, cleanliness of water, impact of human activity on watersheds, and the need to assure that everyone in the world has access to clean water as a human right.’ …The city rally was held in conjunction with a protest at the ELA facility by representatives of The Council of Canadians’ national office.”
The Kenora Online article can be read at http://www.kenoraonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4853&Itemid=160. The Chronicle Journal report is at http://www.chroniclejournal.com/content/news/local/2013/03/31/province-sought-help-ela. Both reports include more photos of this intervention.
