Dear Editor,

During a zoom town hall sponsored by the La Pêche Coalition for a Green New Deal held Sept. 8, I asked William Amos, MP for the Pontiac, whether he would press his government to implement a National Nuclear Waste Management Strategy to bring Canada into line with international standards to put public safety first. Would he ask his government to . . .

press “pause” on the “Near Surface Nuclear Waste Facility” at Chalk River and development of additional reactors until such a framework is in place?

He began by saying that he was misrepresented on this issue by the Low Down as recently as a few weeks ago. He characterized their take of his position as follows, “just sit back and let the Regulator carry out its process.”  The rest of his response, though, did little to refute the accuracy of the paper’s take on his stance.

Amos confirmed the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is the body responsible for assessing nuclear projects and that their mandate is to enforce the Environmental Protection Act against toxins, and he implied that the EPA and the Commission can be trusted to protect public safety. He completely ignored the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s criticisms of the CNSC and its call for Canada to bring its sub-standard nuclear regulatory framework into conformity with international standards. He also ignored evidence of the CNSC’s lack of impartiality in regulating the industry.

The fact is that the CNSC fails to meet IAEA standards for nuclear disposal (eg. never beside important waterways close to large populations) and its pro-industry bias has meant every proposal gets the go-ahead. The President of the CNSC — named by the Trudeau government — promotes the industry openly and advocated for exemption of small nuclear reactors from any environmental assessment at all — even though they are already not required to plan for the disposal of their wastes or the decommissioning of their facilities to get approval (this is left to another proposer, for another day). Amos has never explained why he thinks it okay that his government entrust SNC Lavalin and its US partners with Canada’s waste management responsibility in the absence of a national strategy or adequate safety laws. He repeatedly refers to the CNSC process and implies it will safeguard public safety and the environment, but he ignores these realities.

Mr. Amos: Why should citizens trust that a biased CNSC operating in a weak regulatory context will protect public health over the profitable proliferation of extremely dirty and costly energy? Yes citizens can submit their concerns in writing to the CNSC, he encouraged us to do so and advised that the government provided financing to the Algonquin people and Ottawa River Keepers so they could do just that. But in a weak regulatory context, how likely is that to change the outcome? After all, SNC Lavalin is stockpiling nuclear waste already at the Chalk River site, so sure are they of being approved at the end of the day, while his government and the CNSC turn a blind eye.

Once more, Amos confirmed his position on this critical issue — with the one proviso — don’t sit back, you too can write to the CNSC — but there is a process in place and we should trust in it. Forget the rest. And he’s okay with that.

We should be more than a little concerned about such a stance. 

Denise Giroux

President, Pontiac NDP Riding Association, Cantley, Québec