Nuclear waste bunker decision not about ‘money or beads and trinkets’
TORONTO — Indigenous people in the shadow of one of the world’s largest nuclear reactors are adamant their values will underpin their decision on whether to approve a proposed multibillion-dollar storage bunker for radioactive waste — a process that could take at least another year to play out.
Armed with commitments from both the Canadian government and proponents of the Deep Geologic Repository to await their buy-in, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation say they will take their time to reach an informed opinion on a project already more than a decade in the planning.
“Our values and who we are as a people and our connection to the lands and the waters are in many ways more important than the technical aspects of this,” Randall Kahgee, a former chief and now lead adviser to the First Nations on nuclear issues, said in an interview.
“This is not just a simple project. This is a forever project. It requires our people to think beyond seven generations, which is typically how we plan and think about these things.”