Retour à la page principale
Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout
Media Release
For release November 26, 1996
ENVIRONMENT GROUPS PLAN LEGAL CHALLENGE TO CANDU EXPORT DEAL WITH CHINA
Ottawa -- The Sierra Club of Canada and other public interest groups are planning
a legal challenge in the wake of 11th hour changes intended to allow the quick sale
of CANDU reactors to China.
Earlier this month, the federal cabinet met in a hastily arranged special session
to make changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. The regulations were
given the force of law the next day without the usual regulatory procedure of a sixty
day public comment period. The regulations are still not available to the public in the
Canada Gazette or any other public listing of regulations. They will be published
for the first time tomorrow (Wednesday, November 27th) after the sale has been completed.
The new regulations will effectively exempt all future federally funded overseas projects
from environmental assessment.
Responding to the federal cabinet regulations and to the signing of contracts today
in China, Elizabeth May, Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada stated,
" We believe that the government has violated its own Environmental Assessment Act.
By passing regulations in cabinet, in the middle of the night, the government has shanghaied
the democratic rights of Canadian citizens."
May added, "In the process of trying to sell CANDU reactors at any cost to China,
the government has jettisoned parliamentary procedure and public accountability in
Canada. The Prime Minister says that he's concerned about human and democratic rights
in China. Reducing the democratic rights of Canadians is a strange way of showing it."
Norman Rubin, Director of Nuclear Research at Energy Probe, echoed this concern, "This
deal, from the start has ignored the human rights of the Chinese people. Now it's
also threatening the legal rights of Canadians."
The Sierra Club believes that the government has failed in its obligation to conduct
a preliminary screening prior to irrevocable decisions being made. Environment groups
are calling upon the federal government to undertake a comprehensive environmental
assessment of the project pursuant to sections 21 through 24 of the Environmental Assessment
Act . "If the Government of Canada is unwilling to live up to its responsibilities
under the Environmental Assessment Act , then a legal challenge to the changes in
the act may be the only recourse that the public has", noted Elizabeth May. Contrary
to assertions by Minister for International Trade, Art Eggleton, internal documents
prove that the government had planned to require environmental assessments for Projects Outside Canada.
Environment groups are concerned about several other aspects of the CANDU deal, including
the following:
* China is not a signatory to the Vienna Convention on third-party liability. This
means that, "financial accountability in the event of a multi-billion dollar accident
has not been clearly assigned. AECL and thus the Canadian public could be liable
for any accidents associated with the operation of CANDU
reactors in China", says Kristen Ostling, Coordinator of the Campaign for Nuclear
Phaseout. Major accident scenarios studied in connection with the CANDU reactors
near Toronto (Pickering) project extensive property damage in the billions of dollars.
These kinds of issues would emerge in a comprehensive environmental assessment.
* By undertaking this sale, the federal government is undermining its stated historical
commitment to nuclear non-proliferation. In contrast, the United States has not allowed
its nuclear industry to sell nuclear reactors to China because of China's nuclear dealings with countries having clandestine nuclear weapons programs, such as Pakistan.
* The Government of Canada claims that the Chinese have agreed to strict safeguards
to prevent nuclear proliferation. However, "plutonium produced by CANDU reactors
will last for tens of thousands of years, long after any current government or safeguard
agreement has expired," states Dr. Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear
Responsibility.
* Contrary to government claims, the sale of CANDU reactors to China creates few if
any new jobs in Canada. "At best it will extend 2500 jobs for three to five years"
said Dave Martin of the Nuclear Awareness Project.
* Nuclear generated electricity is not -- as is often asserted by proponents of the
deal with China -- a sustainable alternative to coal. The hazards posed by day-to-day
operations, the potential for catastrophic accidents, and the inevitable problems
associated with radioactive waste disposal mean that Canada is bequeathing a legacy of
environmental problems to the people of China. The federal government appears to
have wilfully ignored the cost advantages and environmental benefits of renewable
energy and conservation measures both at home and abroad.
* Nucleonics Week, the insider newsletter of the nuclear industry reported that China
opted for the CANDU deal because Canada was the only country that would provide such
favourable financial terms in a short timeframe. The financial terms of this deal
are unprecedented. At $1.5 billion, this is the largest single loan in the history of
Canada to for an overseas project.
* Since the 1950s over $13 billion of public funding has been devoted to maintaining
the Canadian nuclear industry. Federal subsidies to AECL are responsible for $33
billion (1995$) of Canada's current national debt. Canadians are now being asked
to assume another $1.5 billion in debt on behalf of the nuclear industry.
Canadians are increasingly voicing their opposition to the CANDU China deal. Demonstrations
against the deal have already taken place in Halifax, Vancouver, and Saskatoon. In
Winnipeg the Concerned Citizens of Manitoba says that their group will take its message of protest to downtown commuters during the rush hour today outside Foreign
Affairs Minister, Lloyd Axworthy's local office.
- 30 -
For more information, contact:
Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout, 613-789-3634
Sierra Club of Canada, 613-241-4611
Nuclear Awareness Project, 905-852-0571
Energy Probe, 416-964-3675
Concerned Citizens of Manitoba, 204-452-2352
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, 514-489-5118