IGNACE – The Northwestern Ontario township on the shortlist for hosting Canada’s first deep-underground nuclear waste facility has suspended the work of its Willingness Committee.
A motion passed by Ignace council last Thursday night affirmed that the council “suspend activities of the Willingness-ICNLC until further notice.” ICNLC stands for Ignace Community Nuclear Liaison Committee.
The motion was moved and seconded by council’s two representatives on the community panel, Coun. Jodie Defeo and Coun. Janet Lett.
In a media statement released today on behalf of council, consulting firm Summit PCG said the temporary suspension of activities will allow township staff to recruit new committee members in the weeks after this Friday’s deadline for residents to express an interest in joining the panel.
Willingness Committee member Paul Dufault learned of the decision last Friday and said that the township has not given a reason for the decision.
“We haven’t received any information or letter explaining all this,” he said.
“I just hate the fact that Ignace will get bad publicity again."
Diana Schmidt, a local critic of the proposal to site a deep geological repository (DGR) near Ignace and have Ignace host supporting facilities, said the situation is “typical” for Ignace township council.
“This council is not transparent … about everything,” she said Monday.
She said the committee’s suspension may signal that the township doesn’t care to listen.
“Some people are saying that maybe they’ve decided (in favour of hosting the DGR) and that’s that,” Schmidt said.
Dufault said the four non-council members of the Willingness Committee are residents with years of experience on the committee “but don’t feel listened to.”
The Ignace-Wabigoon Lake area is one of two places on the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s shortlist for the location of a proposed DGR for spent fuel from Canadian nuclear reactors. The other shortlisted candidate is the South Bruce area in southwestern Ontario.
The NWMO has said it will choose between the two sites late this year. Construction of a DGR in either location likely won’t start before about 2034 and the facility won’t be operational until years after that.
The industry-funded organization has also said host community willingness is a critical factor in its decision making.
Any Ignace resident interested in joining the Willingness Committee is asked to contact Keith Roseborough at the township office, [email protected], by 3 p.m. Friday.
Today's media statement said the panel’s suspension of activities will allow for recruitment after Friday’s deadline and give members the time “to undertake necessary training and facilitation.”
“We as a Council for the Township of Ignace are both eager and enthusiastic about the participation of the community as a whole in this process of willingness and need to make every effort to expand the existing committee’s reach and representation,” interim mayor Kim Baigrie is quoted as saying in the media statement.
The suspension of Willingness Committee activities in Ignace doesn’t affect the process of site selection, NWMO spokesperson Vince Ponka said.
“We've always said at the NWMO that it is up to the potential host communities to give us that expression of willingness,” he said.
“Exactly how they do that really is an internal municipal matter. But we don't feel that this will delay the decision or impact the decision-making process.”
