Calling all concerned citizens of the Kichi Sibi (Ottawa River) watershed!
Thank you to folks who joined us in solidarity with Kebaowek and other Algonquin nations against the Near Surface Disposal Facility at Chalk River (NSDF) project at the Rally to scrap the NSDF outside at the annual Canadian Nuclear Association conference from February 28 to March 1, 2024. The conference was host to the nuclear industry from across Canada as well as federal and provincial energy ministers.
We sent a strong message to the Canadian nuclear industry and federal and provincial energy ministers. Algonquin communities and residents along the Ottawa River do not consent to the Chalk River NSDF project and nuclear waste in our watershed.
Visit the Stop Nuclear Waste Facebook Page for more ways to take action and upcoming events.
In January, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission approved the plan to put a nuclear waste dump at Chalk River, a kilometre away from the Ottawa River despite fierce opposition from community, Algonquin First Nations, and environmental groups.
The Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) project jeopardizes the primary source of drinking water for millions and exposes the air, land, water, health, and wellbeing of all lives alongside the Ottawa River to hazardous and radioactive contaminants.
Algonquin First Nations have strongly opposed the NSDF, citing both the adverse impacts on the land, water, wildlife, and their cultural rights, and the inadequate consultation leading up to the approval. Without free, prior, and informed consent, the NSDF is violating the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and it must be stopped. Kebaowek First Nations is now launching a judicial review of the project.
On February 14, 2024, Kebaowek First Nations, fellow Indigenous chiefs, federal political parties, and allies gathered to urge the federal government to stop the NSDF project and emphasize the failure of the Commission to uphold its duty to consult, thereby neglecting the constitutionally protected and inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Learn more about the NSDF’s approval here, and support Kebaowek’s legal action here.
