The lawyers’ benches may be crowded by the time a federal judge hears a court appeal over the Near Surface Disposal Facility at Chalk River.
The Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation (AOPFN), the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), and the Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA) have all been allowed to join the appeal originally filed by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.
Now, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) also wants in on the action.
In a motion to join the appeal as an intervener, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation says it has “has decades of experience advocating for its rights and interests” in the Bruce Peninsula area, which has been subject to “intense nuclear industrialization over the last 50 years.”
For example, they say, the Western Waste Management Facility (WWMF), “one of Canada’s largest nuclear waste management and storage facilities,” was established “without SON’s consent or consultation” in 1974.
SON says it would provide “useful and different submissions for the court,” particularly focused on how Canada’s UNDRIP Act (UNDA) “engages the honour of the Crown.”
“SON would submit that by engaging the honour of the Crown, UNDA requires Canada to take effective measures – distinct from consultation and accommodation – to secure FPIC [free, prior, and informed consent] from Indigenous peoples prior to storing hazardous waste in their territories.
“SON would expand on the process requirements to obtain FPIC and the circumstances where proceeding in the absence of consent could be justified.
“These submissions differ from those of the parties and current interveners,” the motion says…
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