No matter if you celebrate Christmas or not, this is a season of gifts – perhaps it’s the changing of the season, the coming of snow, or even the need to squeeze out some gift from the universe as our days fall into shorter sunlit hours. Sure, summer’s wonderful… but right now we need some cheeriness. The ancient Celts and Nordic peoples recognized the value in celebrating this time too.
And we’re being offered a huge gift; we can’t let this slide by!
Pontiac, in the heart of the Ottawa River watershed, has long questioned the construction of a disaster-in-waiting, the huge radioactive dump at Chalk River, on a site upwind and one eventually draining into the Ottawa River. The Liberal federal government has refused to seriously consider the threats posed by such a dangerous project. Both our former and present MPs (Ms. Sophie Chatel) have told me personally that “the NSDF is going ahead no matter what; all we (citizens) can do is make sure it’s as safe as possible.” An impossible task, with train and truckloads of radioactive waste arriving daily.
In other words, citizens be damned, we have obligations to fulfill – such as this giga-pile at Chalk River.
Back to gift-giving: Ms. Chatel has announced she is endorsing a citizens’ petition (initiated by Ole Hendrickson) to her government asking a serious review of the “near-surface” facility. The petition asks that nearby Indigenous peoples’ wishes be taken seriously. And why not add you and I and our families? We live here, square within the big dump’s wind shadow.
Working with what we have, this petition needs the support of every one of us living within the facility’s long reach. Your finest gift to your fellow-citizens, and especially to our future generations, is your signature on this petition.
Just type this address into your web browser: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4676 and follow the instructions to register your signature. You will be asking for a review of this massive project – a review. Pretty timid, but it’s the best we have to work with, and ignoring this opportunity, skimpy as it is, would be a big mistake.
So, Journal readers, here’s our opportunity to have the federal government explain why it is insisting on approving such a dangerous and hugely expensive project. The Conservatives literally gifted this project to the corporate sector, with enough public money to make everyone connected to the project wealthy.
Time to stand up for ourselves, Pontiac!
