The Regina Leader-Post reports, “Walkers who last year trekked 800 kilometres from Pinehouse Lake to Regina to protest against nuclear waste storage saw their petition presented Monday in the Saskatchewan legislature. The walkers and others are calling for the Saskatchewan Party government to introduce legislation that would ban nuclear waste storage and transportation of nuclear waste in the province. The petition, which gathered more than 12,000 signatures, is in response to an effort by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to find a home for an underground storage site for spent nuclear fuel.”
“Candyce Paul from English River First Nation rallied with a few dozen others on the steps of the Legislative Building over the noon hour to protest the idea a Saskatchewan community could one day be home to a nuclear waste repository. ‘There is no such thing as safe radioactive waste,’ Paul said. ‘It is far too dangerous for us to commit our future generations to.’ There are also treaty questions to consider, she said. ‘Once you get that (waste storage site) on that land, it’ll never be ours again.'”
“Premier Brad Wall said the government isn’t considering legislation to ban nuclear waste storage. But the government isn’t interested in welcoming a storage site to the province either, Wall said. ‘I don’t think there’s an interest on the part of Saskatchewan people. There’s not an interest, therefore, on the part of the government,’ Wall told reporters.”
In late-August 2011, the Meadow Lake Progress newspaper reported, “Debbie Morin said the biggest achievement of the walk was the wide network of supporters it gained. ‘We have a list as long as our arm of organizations now that support us and that want to work together to strategize on how to get a ban legislated,’ she said. Some of those backers include the Council of Canadians and the Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan. Other countries have also taken an interest in the committee’s activity, with support pouring in from Japan and Germany.” On August 3, the Prince Albert chapter welcomed the Committee for Future Generations walkers with a water ceremony and fundraising concert during their walk.
Yesterday, Council of Canadians Board member and Prince Albert chapter activist Rick Sawa and Regina chapter activist Jim Elliot were both present at the Saskatchewan Legislature for the presentation of the petition.
Prairies organizer Scott Harris has highlighted, “Council of Canadians chapters are part of the Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan, which is pushing for a nuclear waste ban in the province. As part of efforts to keep nuclear waste out of Saskatchewan, chapters and the coalition have organized speaking events with nuclear expert Dr. Jim Harding, author of Canada’s Deadly Secret, in Wynard, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, La Ronge and Regina.” Our statement on nuclear power says, in part, that, “The Council of Canadians rejects nuclear power because it poses an unacceptable risk to people and the environment. It is neither clean, safe, peaceful, nor economic.” For more on the walk and this issue, please see http://canadians.org/blog/?p=10147.
