Anishinabek Nation is again voicing its opposition to plans for a nuclear waste repository in northwestern Ontario.
The Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation area has been selected as the proposed site of Canada’s deep geological repository, where used nuclear fuel from across the country would be transported for long-term underground storage.
“Instead of protecting our homeland, the plan is to pollute it with toxic nuclear waste, far from the populations that utilize and benefit from nuclear energy produced in the south,” Grand Chief Linda Debassige wrote in a press release on Wednesday.
However, both Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation have voted to enter into an agreement with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization as willing hosts for the proposed deep geological repository, which would be located between the two communities.
While the proposed site is outside Anishinabek Nation territory, Debassige said the Anishinabek Nation Grand Council does not support the transportation of nuclear waste through its lands. She added that First Nations across the country are reflecting on the project and its broader implications for Indigenous sovereignty.
Debassige also pointed to Article 29 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which states: “States shall take effective measures to ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories of Indigenous Peoples without their free, prior and informed consent.”
“Listen to our voices and prioritize safe and environmentally sound solutions that do not put any communities or the environment at risk. It is painfully clear that the transportation and disposal of hazardous nuclear waste bring risks, uncertainty, and consequences for all,” Debassige’s statement concluded.
The full statement is available here.
