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On the direction of AMS Assembly, a letter has been drafted and sent to Premier Dalton McGuinty voicing the AMS’ opposition to the harsh sentencing of Queen’s professor Robert Lovelace. Click on the Read More link below to view the letter.
The Honourable Dalton McGuinty
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
March 11, 2008
Dear Premier McGuinty,
We are writing as the elected Executive of the Alma Mater Society, the undergraduate student government at Queen’s University, regarding the recent provincial court sentence imposed on First Nations leader Robert Lovelace for contempt of court charges.
Since June of 2007, Mr. Lovelace and members of the Ardoch Algonquin and Shabot Obaadjiwan have been peacefully protesting the proposed construction of a uranium mine near Robertsville, Ontario. On February 15, Justice Cunningham of the Ontario Superior Court found Mr. Lovelace guilty of contempt of court for defying an injunction ordering an end to the occupation of the land and sentenced him to six months in jail and a $25,000 fine.
Mr. Lovelace is currently a respected lecturer in the Department of Global Development Studies at Queen’s University and previously served as the Manager of our Four Directions Aboriginal Centre. These recent events have moved many students to register both their passionate support for Mr. Lovelace and their fervent claims that it is a grave injustice for his non-violent protest to have resulted in imprisonment and financial penalties.
As news of his sentence travelled quickly through this university, hundreds of students joined a campaign to have Mr. Lovelace released and many of them directly petitioned us for support. At the February 28th meeting of the AMS Assembly, our highest governing body, a great number of our fellow students attended and participated in a roughly two-hour debate on whether we should take a position on this matter, and if so, what should comprise that position. After this discussion and consultation with the Queen’s Native Students Association, the Assembly adopted the following statement:
For many years, Mr. Lovelace has been a respected teacher, mentor and highly regarded member of the Queen’s community. The Alma Mater Society supports Mr. Lovelace’s freedom to peacefully protest and his right to freedom of speech. Although it would be inappropriate for the Society to comment on whether Mr. Lovelace has broken the law, it is the position of the Alma Mater Society that Mr. Lovelace’s punishment is grossly disproportionate to the charges for which he has been convicted.
Since its inception in 1858, the AMS has consistently sought to defend the principles of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and we feel compelled to add our voice to those calling for a re-evaluation of Mr. Lovelace’s conviction and sentence.
The protests at Robertsville have been consistently peaceful and without any threat of violence, thus separating them from such protests as occurred in Caledonia and Deseronto. It is a grave injustice to punish Mr. Lovelace so harshly for accepting in accordance with his principles and standing up for his beliefs. Indeed, many of our most important advances in human rights have come from similar acts of civil disobedience against laws that were perceived as unjust.
Sincerely,
Kingsley Chak Julia Mitchell John Manning
AMS President AMS Vice-President AMS Vice-President
(University Affairs) (Operations)
CC
MP Peter Milliken
MPP John Gerretsen
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