Katharine Fletcher

Local Journalism Initiative

On July 10, approximately 100 demonstrators gathered outside the Supreme Court in Ottawa in support of Kebaowek First Nation’s (KFN) challenge of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) decision to license the construction of a nuclear waste dump at Chalk River, ON. The facility is expected contain up to a million cubic metres of radioactive waste.

KFN’s legal counsel, Robert Janes, KC, presented the case to Federal Justice Julie Blackhawk, demanding a judicial review of the approval, citing the Commission’s – and federal government’s – failure to uphold the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDRIP), which the federal government assented to in July, 2021. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories presented its case in support of the licensing the next day, on July 11.

In addition to members of the Council of Canadians and many other supporters, Pontiac residents Venetia Crawford (Pontiac Archives’ President) and her granddaughter; Deborah Powell (Pontiac Environmental Protection (PEP) President), Cathy Fox (PEP), and others joined the rally. A decision from the court is pending.

PHOTO: Protestors gathered at the Supreme Court in Ottawa in support of the Kebaowek’s challenge to the NSDF licensing, July 10. (KF)