Metis Explore Nuclear Waste Storage Issue

Metis Explore Nuclear Waste Storage Issue

Friday, December 04, 2009 at 17:00

Saskatchewan Metis citizens say they still need a lot more information — and time to weigh the pros and cons — before deciding if they want to see a nuclear waste storage site in one of their communities.

With a series of local meetings with reps from the national Nuclear Waste Management Organization having just wrapped up, representatives from all 12 Metis regions will gather in Saskatoon this weekend to hash the issues out further.

Louis Gardiner, area director for Northern Region 3, hosted one of those community meetings this week in Ile-a-la-Crosse.

Gardiner says with many of the Metis just hearing about the nuclear waste issue for the first time, there were a lot of questions and a lot of opinions — and some think it makes sense for northerners to be involved with the nuclear cycle from start to finish.

“A lot of people were saying, ‘Well, we’re mining the raw product, and why are we shipping it out, and we’re shipping employment out at the same time as we are.’ I think people are saying, ‘Well, maybe we need to see the economic benefits — what are the economic benefits if the environment is protected and the social well-being of our people is looked after?’,” he says.

However, Gardiner says, most of what he heard is that before the Metis take a position on the waste storage issue, they need a chance to talk with their neighbours — including First Nations and municipalities — and learn more about both the opportunities and risks a site would present.