WABIGOON LAKE – A date and question have not been set for Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation’s plebiscite on being a potential host for a nuclear waste facility.
The First Nation’s council intend to set a community vote on the matter in the fall – but not before a potential hosting agreement has been reached with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, Chief Clayton Wetelainen said Monday in an interview.
“There's no date set yet because we have to conclude the hosting agreement and then present that to our members,” he said.
Ignace’s decision last week to proceed as a potential host community hasn’t affected the process in Wabigoon Lake, he said.
Wabigoon Lake’s traditional territory includes the Revell site west of Ignace that is being considered for a multi-billion-dollar project to construct an underground home for nuclear waste.
Ignace township council voted unanimously last Wednesday to accept a community committee’s recommendation that Ignace continue as a potential host community and continue in the site selection process for a deep geological repository.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization, the industry-funded body that wants to build a deep geological repository for millions of used fuel rods from Canadian reactors, has said it will choose a location by the end of 2024.
The only other potential site is in the southwestern Ontario municipality of South Bruce, which will hold a referendum in late October.
The First Nation whose traditional territory includes South Bruce, Saugeen Ojibway Nation, has said it won’t hold a community vote on the matter until next year.
