Media Release
For release Wednesday, June 28, 2000
 

Ottawa - Citizens and First Nations groups are taking the federal government to court over the unlawful manner with which it is importing weapons-plutonium MOX fuel into Canada.

The Chrétien government violated the public trust when it flew American plutonium fuel in January from Sault-Ste Marie to Chalk River, Ontario. The government explicitly ruled out air transport and then flew the plutonium at the last minute, placing communities along the route at even greater risk. They did this without prior public notification or consultation. The case argues this action was illegal.

The case aims to ensure that the Canadian public retains its full democratic right to be notified and to comment on all aspects of transportation plans associated with the imminent shipment of plutonium fuel from Russia.

“With massive opposition from communities, the federal government may very well want to fly the Russian shipment too — even though there may be five times as much plutonium as in the American shipment, and this mode of transport is forbidden in the United States for safety reasons. Under Canadian law it is illegal to deny Canadians their right to comment. Most Canadians want the shipment stopped.” states Gordon Edwards of the Montreal-based Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.

Applicants in the case include the Sierra Club of Canada, the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Northwatch, Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians. The Minister of Transport is named as the respondent in the case.

“We are joining in this court action because we do not want to see weapons plutonium being transported through our community by land, sea or air, “ stated Larry White of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne. “There must be adequate consultation so that Canadians’ wishes can be heard.”

To date, 155 municipalities in Quebec have passed resolutions calling on the federal government to scrap the plutonium import plan — the Montreal Urban Community, representing 1.8 million people, being the most recent community to do so.

“We want to prevent the federal government from flouting the law by changing transportation plans in the case of the Russian plutonium shipment, as they did with the U.S. plutonium shipment,” states Angela Rickman of the Sierra Club of Canada.

For further information please contact:

Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout, 613-789-3634
Canadian Environmental Law Association, 416-960-2284

Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout
cnp@web.net