ONTARIO (Ottawa) — The Coalition Against Nuclear Dumps on the Ottawa River and Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area announce the results of a federal election candidate survey on nuclear waste policy and management by the federal government.
Candidates were contacted in 14 ridings in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and West Québec.
The NDP, Green Party and People’s Party of Canada candidates who replied were virtually unanimous in opposing the construction of a permanent aboveground radioactive waste mound at Chalk River by the federal government through its multi-billion-dollar contract with SNC-Lavalin and two American corporations. All NDP candidates and the Green Party respondents were opposed; however, two PPC candidates, Mario Belec of Pontiac and Azim Hooda of Nepean, disagreed.
No responses were received from Liberal or Conservative candidates. The survey was also sent to all members of the Liberal Cabinet, with zero responses.
The ridings surveyed were Ottawa Centre, Ottawa South, Ottawa Vanier, Orleans, Ottawa West Nepean, Carleton Kanata, Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke, Glengarry Prescott Russell, Carleton, Nepean, Argenteuil-La Petite-Nation, Gatineau, Hull-Aylmer, and Pontiac.
The NDP, Green Party and PPC candidates who responded were unanimous in agreeing that:
- “Small” nuclear reactors should NOT be exempted from federal impact assessment. Reactors under 200 MW were exempted from impact/environmental assessment under Bill C-69 in regulations announced by the Liberal government at the end of August. The nuclear industry, supported by Natural Resources Canada, proposes to build “small modular” nuclear reactors (SMRs) in Indigenous and remote northern communities.
- The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts should examine whether federal funding of nuclear waste management through the multi-billion-dollar contract with SNC-Lavalin and its American partners is providing “value for money” to taxpayers;
- Canada should develop policies and strategies for long-term radioactive waste management before approving permanent disposal facilities;
- There should be full public disclosure, environmental assessment, and federal oversight of the plan to consolidate federal radioactive wastes at Chalk River;
- They would work with their House of Commons colleagues to initiate reform of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Canada’s nuclear legislation to address long-term management of radioactive wastes;
- They would advocate for a large, scientifically valid Canadian study into the health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation.
In 2015, the Harper government privatized the management of its contaminated nuclear sites and nuclear wastes to a consortium of SNC-Lavalin and U.S. companies, and gave them ownership of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL). CNL plans to consolidate 1,000,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste in an aboveground mound at Chalk River near the Ottawa River. It also plans to entomb two defunct reactors near the Ottawa River and the Winnipeg River by filling them with cement and abandoning them in place, instead of restoring the sites.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has received hundreds of submissions from groups and citizens objecting to the proposals.
The federal government’s radioactive waste, at sites such as Chalk River laboratories in Ontario, Gentilly-1 in Québec, and Whiteshell Laboratories in Manitoba, represents an $8 billion liability for the Government of Canada. Decisions about it will affect the health and safety of Canadians and our environment – now and for thousands of years to come.
