IGNACE – The Green Party of Ontario has dropped its opposition to nuclear power, and that has energized advocates for a nuclear waste repository in Northwestern Ontario.
A resolution passed at the party’s 2024 convention in Kingston this past weekend embraces Canadian reactors as part of a mix of low-carbon-emission electricity sources in the face of climate change.
It’s “exciting” that the Greens have “recognized that nuclear power generation is an important tool in the fight against climate change,” Nuclear Waste Management Organization regional spokesperson Vince Ponka said Monday.
Expansion in nuclear power makes a “long-term storage solution” for spent nuclear fuel all the more important, he said.
The deep geological repository that could be built west of Ignace “is international best practice, and Canada is considered a leader in nuclear waste management,” he added.
Ignace is, along with South Bruce in southern Ontario, on a shortlist of two potential host municipalities for a deep-underground facility for the long-term storage of waste from Canada’s nuclear power plants.
The industry-funded NWMO has said it will choose between the two by year-end.
The Township of Ignace is pleased to see the Greens change their position on nuclear power and “we collectively look forward to the future of the nuclear industry in Ontario and Canada,” township outreach lead Jake Pastore told Newswatch.
Wendy O’Connor of We the Nuclear Free North said the resolution was “a disappointment” because the party’s “previous position was of value to us.”
But the policy change wasn’t a total surprise as Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner’s position seemed to be shifting recently, she said.
More nuclear reactors would “compound the unresolved radioactive waste problem which endangers our health and the environment,” O’Connor said.
The resolution to “end unconditional opposition to nuclear power” recognizes nuclear power as an electricity source very low in carbon emissions and supports further use of Canadian-made CANDU reactors.
The Society of United Professionals, a union including NWMO employees, congratulated the party on the resolution in a Sunday news release.
“Given the Green Party’s long-standing opposition to nuclear energy, we were pleasantly surprised to see this resolution pass,” society president Michelle Johnston said in the release.
“As a party genuinely invested in the fight against climate change, it makes sense to see them recognize that nuclear energy is one of the most potent tools in that fight.”
Ignace council passed a resolution on July 10 for the township to continue as a potential host municipality for the NWMO’s deep geological repository project.
The council vote followed a community poll in which 77.6 per cent voted in favour of continuing and a report from a residents’ committee recommending the township continue in the process.
South Bruce residents voted 51 per cent in favour of hosting the repository in a referendum on Oct. 28.
The First Nations whose traditional territories include the candidate sites have yet to weigh in on whether they would welcome underground nuclear waste.
Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, with traditional territory including the site west of Ignace, is slated to make a decision this month.
Saugeen Ojibway Nation, near South Bruce, has said it will make a decision next year.
The NWMO says community willingness must be present in whichever site it chooses. At either location, construction would begin in about 2034 and take approximately 10 years to complete.
