WABIGOON LAKE — Chief Clayton Wetelainen wouldn’t disclose the numbers, but he said Monday that his First Nation near Dryden voted overwhelmingly to proceed as a potential host to a below-ground facility for nuclear waste.
A referendum completed on Saturday delivered “an overwhelming mandate to continue to the next phase of this project,” he told Newswatch in an exclusive interview.
A news release from the Treaty Three community said members decided in a referendum to “progress into a site characterization process” for the proposed deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel that could be constructed east of Wabigoon Lake on the First Nation’s traditional territory.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is considering two locations for the repository: one between Ignace and Wabigoon Lake, and one in the South Bruce municipality near Lake Huron.
The municipalities of Ignace and South Bruce have signalled their willingness to proceed – Ignace by a unanimous vote of township council in July, South Bruce by a late-October referendum in which 51 per cent voted in favour.
The South Bruce-area First Nation, Saugeen Ojibway Nation, has said it will make a willingness decision next year.
Wabigoon Lake’s yes vote was a higher percentage than the nearly 78 per cent in the community poll held in Ignace in late April, Wetelainen said.
“Now we are waiting for NWMO’s (site) decision,” he said. “We will have more discussions on what the process looks like after their decision.”
Wabigoon Lake’s referendum “is a big step in the process but not the end result,” NWMO regional spokesperson Vince Ponka said.
The result was welcome but “it doesn’t mean that the project is coming north,” he added.
“There’s still more work to be done, but we still are optimistic that we’ll have an announcement sometime soon about potential site selection.”
The industry-funded NWMO has said it will make a decision on where to build the repository for spent fuel from Canada’s nuclear power plants.
Asked if Saugeen’s choice to delay a decision until 2025 changes the timeline for site selection, Ponka said “I can’t speak to that process.”
Wetelainen said Wabigoon Lake band council is “waiting for certified results” from OneFeather Nations Services, the referendum’s administrator.
Once those certified results are in, he said, they will send a band council resolution to the NWMO.
In-person and online voting concluded Saturday. Wabigoon Lake members could vote online through OneFeather from Oct. 15 through Nov. 16, in person at the Wabigoon Lake band office on Nov. 14, and in person at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg on Nov. 16.
A written statement from the Township of Ignace said its mayor and councillors “stand in solidarity with the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation as they take this very important step forward.”
The statement further said the township will support the First Nation “as they continue to navigate this important process, and we remain committed to standing with them every step of the way towards the delivery of a successful outcome for both our communities and people.”
