Dryden Council has voted 4-2 in favour of forming a ‘Significant Neighbouring Community Partnership Working Group’ with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization.
The goal is to work in collaboration with the NWMO on opportunities and concerns surrounding the proposed underground nuclear repository in the Ignace-Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation area.
Mayor Greg Wilson will sit on the Working Group.
“We are very determined to ensure that we get information, understanding and knowledge about this whole process as a community, as the community of Dryden,” says Wilson.
“We’re trying to understand what those positive and negative impacts or challenges would be and that costs us time and money. So, we want to make sure we’re not just out there on our own, spending our own money on something that may or may not even happen.”
Wilson continues, “I’m glad that we have put a lot of time and effort into this, into getting and understanding an agreement of commitment by NWMO to go on this journey of learning. We’re trying to look after our own interests.”
Councillor Shayne MacKinnon says he has concerns with this agreement and the Cities status with the NWMO.
“Now we’re going to engage in a working group who clearly stated it’s mission is to advance the project, not considered the project but to advance it. That’s the language that is used in the agreement.
MacKinnon believes the City has missed an important step and says, “I would think that we would be striking our own committee, an independent City of Dryden committee. Our committee would have experts for and against this project, it would engage the public in town hall meetings and dialogue.”
Councillor MacKinnon isn’t in favour of a Confidentiality stipulation in the agreement, noting concerns about the project may come up during group discussions.
“It would be important to make it public, would it not? Certainly it can be discussed with council because that might make up our decision or that of another community to go forward with the project or abandon it. There’s a danger in those paragraphs.”
The wording indicates the Working Group can’t be tendered as the municipality agreeing to the project.
