The Globe and Mail: Chiefs warn of nuclear waste plans for native territory

The Globe and Mail: Chiefs warn of nuclear waste plans for native territory: "By BILL CURRY
Wednesday, November 2, 2005 Page A4
REGINA -- Aboriginal chiefs gathered from across the country are being put on notice that plans are afoot to bury nuclear waste in their traditional territory.
Outside the Regina convention room where more than 600 chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations are gathered this week, the AFN has set up a large display, complete with pictures, of how nuclear waste could be buried inside the Canadian Shield in the coming decades.
"Yikes," said one woman at the convention as she scanned the display outlining the AFN's "Nuclear Waste Dialogue."
David Gorman, one of the AFN's four co-ordinators for the dialogue, has been visiting reserves to let chiefs and tribal council members know that key decisions are being made about storing nuclear waste that could affect native reserves in the coming decades.
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"I'll talk about radiation and a little bit of the science. I'll talk about the proposed options for economic opportunities for regions," Mr. Gorman said, in describing his presentations.
"I would just say, 'Be aware that industry might approach [your community] to build a facility on your territory and they might sweeten the deal with economic opportunities and money.' "
The issue is being driven by the impact of the federal Nuclear Fuel Waste Act, passed by Parliament in 2002. The law created a new Nuclear Waste Management Organization, led by representatives of Canada's nuclear industry. The organization is scheduled to report in two weeks on its long-term plan for storing nuclear waste.
Mr. Gorman said earlier reports from the organization suggest it will likely propose that the current system of storing waste at the site of nuclear reactors should be continued for the next 60 years, after which deep storage facilities in the Canadian Shield should be ready for use.
The Canadian Shield is the deep rock bed that lies underneath most of Quebec and Northern Ontario. Parts of Saskatchewan are also being considered as potential locations for nuclear deep storage.
The AFN's nuclear dialogue is being paid for with money from the nuclear organization and Natural Resources Canada.
Mr. Gorman would not say how much money the AFN received from the nuclear organization, but the AFN's own summary report of its dialogue reveals the funding arrangement doesn't sit well with some.
"Some participants expressed discomfort at the idea that the AFN was there to promote the [nuclear organization's] objectives and obtain 'buy in' to the current process," says the summary report from the AFN to Elizabeth Dowdeswell, the nuclear organization's president.
John Beaucage, the grand council chief for the Union of Ontario Indians, which represents several native reserves on the Canadian Shield, said he would advise any community not to store nuclear waste on its territory.
Mr. Beaucage said promises of large amounts of money may be enticing for poorer communities, but the long-term impact should be considered.
"It might look good in the short term but when you're talking about nuclear waste, there's no such thing as short-term," he said. "It's just a very, very scary thought."
While reserves are relatively small and it would be highly unlikely that such facilities would be built on reserve land, each aboriginal community considers the broader surrounding area to be part of its "traditional territory," which may also be specifically defined by treaties.
Such land is also owned by the Crown, creating the possibility that such facilities could be built against the wishes of the closest reserve.
Mr. Gorman said that, so far, no community has volunteered to work with the nuclear industry.
He said his presentation is normally met with "a sense of shock" given there is little knowledge of nuclear-waste issues or that a plan is in the works that could involve traditional lands.
The debate comes as the Ontario government has signalled it will become more dependent on nuclear energy as it phases out coal power.
As chiefs wandered by the AFN display, Mr. Gorman said he has been told of many negative experiences that reserves have had with the uranium-mining industry.
One aboriginal community in the Northwest Territories, for example, used to be referred to as the Village of Widows after most of the men in the area died because they were hired to carry uranium from a local mine without any protection. "