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From a web post on BusinessNorth.com from 91.3 KUWS Radio:
The Treaty of 1812 banning live-fire gunboats from the Great Lakes had
to be changed to allow U.S. Coast Guard live ammunition drills.
Mike Simonson reports from Superior.
Two Canadian mayors are asking their Prime Minister to take action.
Sarnia, Ontario Mayor Mike Bradley says the trouble began this spring
when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper secretly negotiated a
change in the treaty of the War of 1812. Bradley says that treaty banned
live ammunition fire drills on the Great Lakes.
Now he's asking the Prime Minister to re-institute the ban. "We have
prided ourselves for almost 200 years that we have the longest
undefended border in the world. I recognize that there's been changes
since September 11th, but to allow these zones to exist is a huge step
backwards environmentally, safety-wise.
It'll have an impact on the Great Lakes which is totally backwards." The
Coast Guard has come under criticism for proposing 34 live fire zones
they're calling "safety zones" for target practice on the Great Lakes.
They say they need it for training and homeland security. But Bradley
says the so-called safety zones are a danger to the environment and
public safety.
"That's sort of the Monty Python absurd approach. You name something
the total opposite of what it is. It's wrong to do. There's already been
issues with some of the zones where there are ferries going through
them, there are fishing areas. It simply isn't needed. If they need to do
training, they can do it off the lake." The mayor of Toronto has also
appealed to Prime Minister Harper to pressure the United States to end
the live-fire drills. (Sept. 24, 2006.)
The Treaty of 1812 banning live-fire gunboats from the Great Lakes had
to be changed to allow U.S. Coast Guard live ammunition drills.
Mike Simonson reports from Superior.
Two Canadian mayors are asking their Prime Minister to take action.
Sarnia, Ontario Mayor Mike Bradley says the trouble began this spring
when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper secretly negotiated a
change in the treaty of the War of 1812. Bradley says that treaty banned
live ammunition fire drills on the Great Lakes.
Now he's asking the Prime Minister to re-institute the ban. "We have
prided ourselves for almost 200 years that we have the longest
undefended border in the world. I recognize that there's been changes
since September 11th, but to allow these zones to exist is a huge step
backwards environmentally, safety-wise.
It'll have an impact on the Great Lakes which is totally backwards." The
Coast Guard has come under criticism for proposing 34 live fire zones
they're calling "safety zones" for target practice on the Great Lakes.
They say they need it for training and homeland security. But Bradley
says the so-called safety zones are a danger to the environment and
public safety.
"That's sort of the Monty Python absurd approach. You name something
the total opposite of what it is. It's wrong to do. There's already been
issues with some of the zones where there are ferries going through
them, there are fishing areas. It simply isn't needed. If they need to do
training, they can do it off the lake." The mayor of Toronto has also
appealed to Prime Minister Harper to pressure the United States to end
the live-fire drills. (Sept. 24, 2006.)
Guns on the lake
Source: The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
(October 10, 2006) — Local boaters are reasonably concerned that the
United States Coast Guard plans to locate a machine gun training range
about 10 miles outside of Irondequoit Bay. After all, fear of being shot at
shouldn't be a part of recreational boat outings.
Fortunately, the Ninth Coast Guard District, at the urging of
Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, has agreed to hold a public meeting
about its plans on Oct. 30. The location is to be announced later. Such a
meeting, which was arranged after public pushback on the proposal,
ought to have been set up from the beginning.
People were bound to be worried about military boats with mounted M-
240B machine guns — the kind that can discharge 600 bullets per minute
— firing into Lake Ontario. The Great Lakes have been largely free of
armed boats and live ammunition since the end of the War of 1812.
After Sept. 11, 2001, security experts started expressing concerns about
the porous Canadian-American border and the fact that that those who
want to do harm to this country might seek entry through the Great
Lakes. It makes sense for the Coast Guard to be prepared, but the
public deserves input and information.
The Coast Guard has promised that the shooting range, which would
encompass about 35 square miles, would be used only about twice a
year, during seasons of low recreational boat traffic. During target
practice, a second Coast Guard boat would use radar to monitor the
water around the shooting ship to call off exercises if civilian boats
approached unexpectedly. No shots would be fired within five miles of
the shore or of the Canadian border.
Still, the Coast Guard must address the concerns of, for example,
adventurous kayakers, like a recent letter writer who says he ventures
out miles away from shore and doesn't carry a radio that would allow
him to pick up Coast Guard warnings. And it must get the target practice
schedule out to the public as far in advance as possible, through a
variety of media, so that boaters aren't surprised.
It's troubling, too, that the Web site devoted to informing citizens about
these plans was not open to the public Monday. The more information
shared about this proposal, the better.
Source: The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
(October 10, 2006) — Local boaters are reasonably concerned that the
United States Coast Guard plans to locate a machine gun training range
about 10 miles outside of Irondequoit Bay. After all, fear of being shot at
shouldn't be a part of recreational boat outings.
Fortunately, the Ninth Coast Guard District, at the urging of
Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, has agreed to hold a public meeting
about its plans on Oct. 30. The location is to be announced later. Such a
meeting, which was arranged after public pushback on the proposal,
ought to have been set up from the beginning.
People were bound to be worried about military boats with mounted M-
240B machine guns — the kind that can discharge 600 bullets per minute
— firing into Lake Ontario. The Great Lakes have been largely free of
armed boats and live ammunition since the end of the War of 1812.
After Sept. 11, 2001, security experts started expressing concerns about
the porous Canadian-American border and the fact that that those who
want to do harm to this country might seek entry through the Great
Lakes. It makes sense for the Coast Guard to be prepared, but the
public deserves input and information.
The Coast Guard has promised that the shooting range, which would
encompass about 35 square miles, would be used only about twice a
year, during seasons of low recreational boat traffic. During target
practice, a second Coast Guard boat would use radar to monitor the
water around the shooting ship to call off exercises if civilian boats
approached unexpectedly. No shots would be fired within five miles of
the shore or of the Canadian border.
Still, the Coast Guard must address the concerns of, for example,
adventurous kayakers, like a recent letter writer who says he ventures
out miles away from shore and doesn't carry a radio that would allow
him to pick up Coast Guard warnings. And it must get the target practice
schedule out to the public as far in advance as possible, through a
variety of media, so that boaters aren't surprised.
It's troubling, too, that the Web site devoted to informing citizens about
these plans was not open to the public Monday. The more information
shared about this proposal, the better.
Harper
allegedly gives
green light to
U.S. Coast
Guard to break
War of 1812
treaty
allegedly gives
green light to
U.S. Coast
Guard to break
War of 1812
treaty