Uranium mines in Quebec: First Nations, municipalities and citizens unite their voices for a moratorium
< http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1127375 ... moratorium >
QUEBEC CITY, March 11, 2013 /CNW Telbec/
Two years to the day following the Fukushima disaster in Japan, First Nations, municipalities and Citizen groups unite their voices, asking the Quebec government to announce a moratorium on uranium mines. They also ask the Government to quickly act on its promise to hold a generic environmental evaluation on uranium in Quebec.
Uranium is a radioactive metal used in the production of nuclear energy and bombs. Its extraction and use pose significant health and environmental risks. Moratoria are already in place in British-Colombia, Nova Scotia and in the Commonwealth of Virginia. "Quebec must follow these examples. Their decisions were based on strong analysis and despite pressure from industry, they wisely decided to shut the door on uranium mining for health, security and environmental reasons," confirms Ugo Lapointe from Québec meilleure mine.
Many communities are claiming their opposition to uranium mining in Quebec. The Cree Nation of Mistissini (James-Bay / Eeyou Istchee), in Northern Quebec, is one of them. "As protectors of the largest fresh water lake in Quebec, Lake Mistassini, we strongly oppose any uranium development. It goes against our way of life and our beliefs. As opposed to other form of tailings, such as that from the Stornoway mine also on our territory, waste from this type of mine stays radioactive for thousands of years, and that is socially unacceptable. We are all here today to say out loud that uranium should not be mined in Quebec" said the Mistissini Council Chief Richard Shecapio.
Today's announcement follows the initiative of the Mayor of Amqui, Gaëtan Ruest, whose municipal council passed a strong resolution against uranium and who forwarded the resolution to the municipalities of Quebec asking them to adopt similar resolutions. So far, over 300 Quebec municipalities have done so and there is an objective to reach 500 municipalities in the next few months.
Details can be found here:
http://www.quebecsansuranium.org/
Chief Ghislain Picard from the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) also applauded the group initiative. "We would like to thank Mayor Ruest for his important initiative and we call upon more First Nations and Quebec municipalities to do the same and send a strong message to the Government of Quebec."
The Government of Quebec pledged to hold an independent inquiry on uranium mining in Quebec. A recent Léger marketing survey showed that 62% of Quebecers are in favor of a moratorium on uranium mining. This number rises to 78% in favor of a broad, independent impact assessment on uranium mining before any projects is approved. "The Government has everything they need to announce a moratorium and follow-up on their promise to hold an independent inquiry on uranium mining in Quebec," concluded Philippe Bourke, Director of the Regroupement national des conseils régionaux de l'environnement.
Organizations supporting today's press conference include: The Cree Nation of Mistissini, the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, the City of Amqui, the Regroupement national des conseils régionaux de l'environnement, the Coalition Pour que le Québec ait meilleure mine, the Mouvement Sortons le Québec du nucléaire, the Canadian coalition for nuclear responsibility, the Canadian association of physicians for the environment, Physicians for global survival, Sept-Îles sans uranium, Minganie sans uranium, Baie-James/Eeyou Istchee Sans uranium, Mouvement vert Mauricie, l'Association de protection des Hautes-Laurentides, Nature Québec, the Suzuki Foundation and Greenpeace.
SOURCE: Coalition Pour que le Québec ait meilleur mine
For further information:
Bella Loon - Communications Officer
Cree Nation of Mistissini
418-770-6968
communication@mistissini.ca
Mylène Bergeron and Anne-Sophie Desprez
Communications coordinators
Nature Québec
418-648-2104, p.2074
mylene.bergeron@naturequebec.org
anne-sophie.deprez@naturequebec.ca
Moratorium on Uranium - Quebec
3 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Moratorium on Uranium - Quebec
by Oscar » Fri Mar 22, 2013 11:04 am
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9149
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
EDWARDS: Why Montreal Should Pass a Resolution Calling on Q
by Oscar » Sat Mar 23, 2013 9:43 am
EDWARDS: Why Montreal Should Pass a Resolution Calling on Quebec to Ban Uranium Mining
< http://www.sierraclub.ca/en/blog/gordon ... ium-mining >
Here are some thoughts as to why Montreal should see it in its best interests to pass the resolution against uranium mining that has been sent to municipalities by Mayor Ga'tan Ruest of Amqui (who is trained as an engineer).
- - - - -
See resolution:
< http://www.sierraclub.ca/sites/sierracl ... ng-ban.pdf >
- - - - -
(1) Montreal is a sister city to Hiroshima. The Mayor of Hiroshima founded the organization Mayors for Peace. Montreal is a member. So is the Town of Amqui. This organization is based on the principle that municipalities can provide important leadership to provincial and federal governments on matters of universal concern to the well-being of our populations. In particular, with regard to nuclear weapons, it is the cities who are targetted with these terrible weapons of mass destruction. So it is important for the Cities and Towns to speak up against the continued production, possession and deployment of nuclear weapons.
(2) Montreal has provided leadership on this issue in the past, by declaring Montreal to be a Nuclear-Weapons Free Zone. A by-law was passed prohibiting the manufacture of nuclear weapons components in the city or transporting them through the city. This required a revision to the City's Charter by Quebec. It is important to realize that uranium is the key element that is absolutely required for the manufacture of nuclear weapons. In fact nuclear weaponry is the ONLY end-use application for which uranium is absolutely essential. There are many alternative ways of generating electricity without uranium; there are alternatives also for producing medical isotopes that do not require uranium; but without uranium, there would be no nuclear weapons of any description whatsoever. (Plutonium is a derivative of uranium obtained by bombarding uranium-238 with neutrons.)
(3) Montreal has also shown leadership in the past on the question of radioactive waste, having passed a resolution against the shipment of 16 radioactively contaminated steam generators from Bruce Power in Ontario, through the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River, across the Atlantic Ocean to Sweden. In Sweden, the bulk of the radioactive waste metal would be recycled, diluted with non-radioactive metal, and then sold without any labelling as scrap metal that can be used to manufacture any number of articles of commerce without any restrictions. (Not long ago, there was a container filled with radioactive kitchenware from India on the docks in Montreal that was finally returned to the point of origin only after months of delay.) The City of Montreal joined its voice at that time with some 80 municipalities belonging to the Great Lakes Cities Initiative, as well as more than 100 Quebec municipalities, that expressed opposition to the shipment of radioactive waste (specifically, the 16 100-tonne Steam Generators) through these precious waterways.
(4) One of the features of uranium mining is that it produces very large volumes of radioactive waste in the form of sand-like "tailings" that contain 85% of the radioactivity in the original ore body, including some of the most toxic naturally-occurring radioactive materials known to science, such as radium-226, radon-222, and polonium-210.
(a) The BCMA (British Columbia Medical Association) has declared radium to be "a superb carcinogen" -- one that killed so many people in the first half of the 20th century that it went from the most valuable material on earth ($100,000 per gram in the 1920s) to a waste byproduct of uranium
mining that is now discarded in the uranium mill tailings.
(b) Radon gas kills tens of thousands of Americans and Canadians every year (it is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking) and it is the direct byproduct of the radioactive disintegration of radium atoms.
(c) Polonium is the most toxic naturally-occurring element on earth. The Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory points out that polonium-210 is 250 BILLION times more toxic than cyanide. The American Health Physics Society points out that up to 90% of all deaths currently attributed to cigarette smoking may actually be due to minute quantities of polonium-210 in the tobacco, that is inhaled into the lungs and passes into the bloodstream of the smoker, causing lung cancers, heart attacks, and strokes.
(5) Although Montreal has no experience with uranium mining (in fact there are at present no uranium mines in Quebec) we do have experience with the SAME kind of radioactive contaminants as those found in uranium tailings(but at a much lower concentration) because of the radioactive wastes at Oka (from the defunct columbium mine that operated there long ago) and also at Varennes (from the ERCO Phosphate fertilizer plant using radioactively contaminated phosphate ore from Florida. Radioactive contamination in Florida is so extensive that the State has passed a law to the effect that every sale of a building must be accompanied by an official certified declaration of the radon gas levels in the building.
Note: Columbium is an older name for the element now known as "niobium".
(6) A company called "Oka aggregates" used tens of thousands of tonnes of these radioactive sandy wastes for construction and landfill -- resulting in radioactively contaminated buildings and plots in Oka and elsewhere. A Quebec officer, specialist in the radiological office at that time, pointed out that some grassy lawns in Oka were so radioactive that if you sat in a lawn chair for too long you would exceed the permissible radiation exposure limit for gamma radiation for a member of the general public. In addition, excessive levels of radon gas are found in many homes in Oka, partly from the natural radioactivity of the ore body, but it was also exacerbated by the mining operations which created countless additional pathways for radon to reach the surface as well as the use of contaminated building materials through the use of radioactive tailings -- used as if it was merely a very clean sand, ideal for making cement and landfill operations during construction.
(7) At Varennes, another construction company was taking huge amounts of radioactive sandy wastes from the phosphate plant and using it to build lots of homes on the South Shore, creating innumerable cases of excessive radon gas buildups in homes. When Clifford Lincoln was Environment Minister he ordered the trucks to stop taking that waste, but they ignored his order. It took months for Minister Lincoln to get the legal authority to stop this dangerous and lethal practice, Of course lung cancers and other diseases caused by radioactive contamination of homes and infrastructure is not only a personal tragedy for the families involved, but also drives up Quebec's health costs unnecessarily.
(8) These radioactive wastes -- containing radium, and continually generating radon gas and polonium-210 -- remain dangerous for literally hundreds of thousands of years. This is because of the presence of thorium-230, with a 76,000 year half-life, which continually replenishes the supply of radium, radon, and polonium through its own unstoppable radioactive disintegration. As long as these materials are underground, the overwhelming bulk of these dangerosu radioactive byproducts remain inaccessible to the environment, the atmosphere, and the food chain. But when mining brings these materials to the surface, and milling crushes the rock into a fine powder (almost the consistency of flour) then they became much more accessible.
(9) Because of Montreal's principled stand against nuclear weapons, it makes sense for the City to recommend that the province ban the mining
of uranium in its territory -- (especially since Quebec has effectively phased out of nuclear power by closing Quebec's only operating nuclear power reactor, Gentilly-2, on December 28 2012.) In doing so Montreal would be reinforcing the call by the Nobel-Prize-winning organization International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War for a ban on uranium mining world-wide.
(10) Because of Montreal's unhappy experience involving radioactive mill wastes at Oka and Varennes, it makes sense for Montreal to counsel the Government of Quebec not to allow the creation of innumerable repositories of these sand-like long-lived radioactive wastes throughout the province by banning uranium mining in its territory. In doing so Montreal would be reinforcing the call of dozens of medical doctors in Sept-Isles who wrote a letter to the Minister of Natural Resources in the Charest Government saying that they would resign their positions in the hospital there and possibly even leave the province unless the Government bans uranium mining.
(11) The movement against uranium mining is not a movement against mining in general. It is a recognition that certain dangers are not worth risking, and that uranium -- like asbestos -- is too dangerous to mine and should be left in the ground. This is not the case with other materials that are mined. A ban on uranium mining has been imposed in British Columbia and in Nova Scotia. Such bans are in accordance with other enlightened public policy measures such as banning smoking in public places (cigarette smoke by the way containing polonium-210 which is also a danger to non-smokers through "second-hand smoke") and banning the asbestos in automobile brake linings (because a single asbestos fibre can be the precursor of a fatal cancer, just as a single exposure to atomic radiation in the lungs can lead to lung cancer).
Gordon Edwards, Ph.D., President,
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.
www.ccnr.org/
< http://www.sierraclub.ca/en/blog/gordon ... ium-mining >
Here are some thoughts as to why Montreal should see it in its best interests to pass the resolution against uranium mining that has been sent to municipalities by Mayor Ga'tan Ruest of Amqui (who is trained as an engineer).
- - - - -
See resolution:
< http://www.sierraclub.ca/sites/sierracl ... ng-ban.pdf >
- - - - -
(1) Montreal is a sister city to Hiroshima. The Mayor of Hiroshima founded the organization Mayors for Peace. Montreal is a member. So is the Town of Amqui. This organization is based on the principle that municipalities can provide important leadership to provincial and federal governments on matters of universal concern to the well-being of our populations. In particular, with regard to nuclear weapons, it is the cities who are targetted with these terrible weapons of mass destruction. So it is important for the Cities and Towns to speak up against the continued production, possession and deployment of nuclear weapons.
(2) Montreal has provided leadership on this issue in the past, by declaring Montreal to be a Nuclear-Weapons Free Zone. A by-law was passed prohibiting the manufacture of nuclear weapons components in the city or transporting them through the city. This required a revision to the City's Charter by Quebec. It is important to realize that uranium is the key element that is absolutely required for the manufacture of nuclear weapons. In fact nuclear weaponry is the ONLY end-use application for which uranium is absolutely essential. There are many alternative ways of generating electricity without uranium; there are alternatives also for producing medical isotopes that do not require uranium; but without uranium, there would be no nuclear weapons of any description whatsoever. (Plutonium is a derivative of uranium obtained by bombarding uranium-238 with neutrons.)
(3) Montreal has also shown leadership in the past on the question of radioactive waste, having passed a resolution against the shipment of 16 radioactively contaminated steam generators from Bruce Power in Ontario, through the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River, across the Atlantic Ocean to Sweden. In Sweden, the bulk of the radioactive waste metal would be recycled, diluted with non-radioactive metal, and then sold without any labelling as scrap metal that can be used to manufacture any number of articles of commerce without any restrictions. (Not long ago, there was a container filled with radioactive kitchenware from India on the docks in Montreal that was finally returned to the point of origin only after months of delay.) The City of Montreal joined its voice at that time with some 80 municipalities belonging to the Great Lakes Cities Initiative, as well as more than 100 Quebec municipalities, that expressed opposition to the shipment of radioactive waste (specifically, the 16 100-tonne Steam Generators) through these precious waterways.
(4) One of the features of uranium mining is that it produces very large volumes of radioactive waste in the form of sand-like "tailings" that contain 85% of the radioactivity in the original ore body, including some of the most toxic naturally-occurring radioactive materials known to science, such as radium-226, radon-222, and polonium-210.
(a) The BCMA (British Columbia Medical Association) has declared radium to be "a superb carcinogen" -- one that killed so many people in the first half of the 20th century that it went from the most valuable material on earth ($100,000 per gram in the 1920s) to a waste byproduct of uranium
mining that is now discarded in the uranium mill tailings.
(b) Radon gas kills tens of thousands of Americans and Canadians every year (it is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking) and it is the direct byproduct of the radioactive disintegration of radium atoms.
(c) Polonium is the most toxic naturally-occurring element on earth. The Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory points out that polonium-210 is 250 BILLION times more toxic than cyanide. The American Health Physics Society points out that up to 90% of all deaths currently attributed to cigarette smoking may actually be due to minute quantities of polonium-210 in the tobacco, that is inhaled into the lungs and passes into the bloodstream of the smoker, causing lung cancers, heart attacks, and strokes.
(5) Although Montreal has no experience with uranium mining (in fact there are at present no uranium mines in Quebec) we do have experience with the SAME kind of radioactive contaminants as those found in uranium tailings(but at a much lower concentration) because of the radioactive wastes at Oka (from the defunct columbium mine that operated there long ago) and also at Varennes (from the ERCO Phosphate fertilizer plant using radioactively contaminated phosphate ore from Florida. Radioactive contamination in Florida is so extensive that the State has passed a law to the effect that every sale of a building must be accompanied by an official certified declaration of the radon gas levels in the building.
Note: Columbium is an older name for the element now known as "niobium".
(6) A company called "Oka aggregates" used tens of thousands of tonnes of these radioactive sandy wastes for construction and landfill -- resulting in radioactively contaminated buildings and plots in Oka and elsewhere. A Quebec officer, specialist in the radiological office at that time, pointed out that some grassy lawns in Oka were so radioactive that if you sat in a lawn chair for too long you would exceed the permissible radiation exposure limit for gamma radiation for a member of the general public. In addition, excessive levels of radon gas are found in many homes in Oka, partly from the natural radioactivity of the ore body, but it was also exacerbated by the mining operations which created countless additional pathways for radon to reach the surface as well as the use of contaminated building materials through the use of radioactive tailings -- used as if it was merely a very clean sand, ideal for making cement and landfill operations during construction.
(7) At Varennes, another construction company was taking huge amounts of radioactive sandy wastes from the phosphate plant and using it to build lots of homes on the South Shore, creating innumerable cases of excessive radon gas buildups in homes. When Clifford Lincoln was Environment Minister he ordered the trucks to stop taking that waste, but they ignored his order. It took months for Minister Lincoln to get the legal authority to stop this dangerous and lethal practice, Of course lung cancers and other diseases caused by radioactive contamination of homes and infrastructure is not only a personal tragedy for the families involved, but also drives up Quebec's health costs unnecessarily.
(8) These radioactive wastes -- containing radium, and continually generating radon gas and polonium-210 -- remain dangerous for literally hundreds of thousands of years. This is because of the presence of thorium-230, with a 76,000 year half-life, which continually replenishes the supply of radium, radon, and polonium through its own unstoppable radioactive disintegration. As long as these materials are underground, the overwhelming bulk of these dangerosu radioactive byproducts remain inaccessible to the environment, the atmosphere, and the food chain. But when mining brings these materials to the surface, and milling crushes the rock into a fine powder (almost the consistency of flour) then they became much more accessible.
(9) Because of Montreal's principled stand against nuclear weapons, it makes sense for the City to recommend that the province ban the mining
of uranium in its territory -- (especially since Quebec has effectively phased out of nuclear power by closing Quebec's only operating nuclear power reactor, Gentilly-2, on December 28 2012.) In doing so Montreal would be reinforcing the call by the Nobel-Prize-winning organization International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War for a ban on uranium mining world-wide.
(10) Because of Montreal's unhappy experience involving radioactive mill wastes at Oka and Varennes, it makes sense for Montreal to counsel the Government of Quebec not to allow the creation of innumerable repositories of these sand-like long-lived radioactive wastes throughout the province by banning uranium mining in its territory. In doing so Montreal would be reinforcing the call of dozens of medical doctors in Sept-Isles who wrote a letter to the Minister of Natural Resources in the Charest Government saying that they would resign their positions in the hospital there and possibly even leave the province unless the Government bans uranium mining.
(11) The movement against uranium mining is not a movement against mining in general. It is a recognition that certain dangers are not worth risking, and that uranium -- like asbestos -- is too dangerous to mine and should be left in the ground. This is not the case with other materials that are mined. A ban on uranium mining has been imposed in British Columbia and in Nova Scotia. Such bans are in accordance with other enlightened public policy measures such as banning smoking in public places (cigarette smoke by the way containing polonium-210 which is also a danger to non-smokers through "second-hand smoke") and banning the asbestos in automobile brake linings (because a single asbestos fibre can be the precursor of a fatal cancer, just as a single exposure to atomic radiation in the lungs can lead to lung cancer).
Gordon Edwards, Ph.D., President,
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.
www.ccnr.org/
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9149
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
EDWARDS: Clarification - Quebec/Cree moratorium on uranium
by Oscar » Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:20 am
Quebec: Clarification regarding the Cree moratorium on uranium
----- Original Message -----
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2013 1:28 PM
Subject: Quebec: Clarification regarding the Cree moratorium on uranium
In a recent message forwarded from the Saskatchewan-based Committee for Future Generations, sent just a few hours ago, there was a bit of confusion with regard to the Cree moratorium on uranium in Quebec.
Although the Cree Nation of Mistissini was courageously ahead of the uranium issue by opposing uranium development in their own backyard, the "nationalization" of this issue was due to the action of the Grand Council of the Crees, at the request of Mistissini and other Cree entities.
The Grand Council -- which represents all ten Cree communities -- is the body that enacted the Cree permanent moratorium in all of Eeyou-Istchee (the extensive Cree territory spanning much of Northern Quebec).
The Grand Council of the Crees is now engaged in diplomacy, litigation, advocacy and other efforts to implement and secure that permanent Cree moratorium. It appears that the Quebec government has not been entirely respectful with the Cree Nation in the mandate given to the BAPE (Bureau des audience publiques sur l'environnement. Office of Public Hearings on the Environment) to hold "generic" hearings on the environmental impacts of uranium mining in the province, given that the BAPE does not have jurisdiction in Cree territory.
See the Grand Council statement of March 28, 2013:
< http://www.gcc.ca/newsarticle.php?id=302 >
For an eloquent formulation of the Cree position, you can view the statement made by Shawn Iserhoff, Youth Chief of the Cree, at the March 11 2013 media conference in Quebec City.
< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIV4MLx8CQ >
Thanks to friends of CCNR for helping with these clarifications.
Gordon Edwards
President
www.ccnr.org
- - - - - -
Quebec becomes third province to impose uranium moratorium
< http://www.mining.com/quebec-becomes-th ... ium-26158/ >
Vladimir Basov | April 4, 2013
Quebec became the third Canadian province, after Nova Scotia and British Columbia, to establish a moratorium on uranium development.
Environment minister Yves-Francois Blanchet announced last Thursday no permits for exploration or mining will be issued until an independent study on the environmental impact and social acceptance of extracting uranium has been completed.
[ http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Que ... story.html ]
The minister delegated authority on uranium development issues to the province's office of public hearings on the environment (BAPE), which has the power to recommend all possible scenarios — from a permanent uranium ban to determining safe ways to develop resources of this radioactive metal.
Thus, unlike Nova Scotia and BC, the uranium moratorium in Quebec looks temporary at the moment as it is conditional to BAPE’s approval in every particular case.
Immediately after the moratorium was announced, the share price of Canadian-based Strateco Resources Inc. (TSE: RSC), which is developing the Matoush uranium deposit in Quebec, slumped by 67%.
Guy Hebert, Strateco's chief executive officer, denounced the moratorium in a written statement.
[ http://www.stockhouse.com/companies/sto ... sc/8777864 ]
MORE:
< http://www.mining.com/quebec-becomes-th ... ium-26158/ >
- - - - - -
Quebec imposes moratorium on uranium development
< http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Que ... story.html >
By Kevin Dougherty and Monique Beaudin, The Gazette March 28, 2013
QUEBEC — No permits for the exploration or mining of uranium in Quebec will be issued until an independent study on the environmental impact and social acceptance of extracting uranium has been completed, Environment Minister Yves-François Blanchet announced Thursday.
Blanchet has asked Quebec’s Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement to examine the issue of uranium development and uranium waste in general, with hearings throughout the province.
“Some people fear uranium more than iron or gold,” Blanchet said, explaining the BAPE will have full latitude to recommend all possible scenarios, from a permanent moratorium to determining safe ways to develop the heavy metal, used to fuel nuclear reactors and build nuclear bombs.
“As far as I know, this stuff is radioactive,” Blanchet said, adding he cannot predict the outcome of the study. “It might not be dangerous and it might be. This is the kind of issue that the Bureau will address.”
As a first step Thursday, Blanchet announced he has ordered scientific studies to prepare for the BAPE panel, which would begin its work in the fall, reporting in about a year.
The minister said the BAPE will decide how much time it needs for the study and he cannot interfere with its work.
Blanchet said he realizes the northern Quebec Crees of Eeyou Istchee have called for a permanent moratorium on uranium development and he hopes the Crees and other aboriginals participate in the process.
In a statement, the Crees welcomed the “moratorium,” while expressing reserves.
Bill Namagoose, executive director of the Grand Council of the Crees, said Blanchet’s decision has set off a “constitutional crisis,” explaining that the BAPE has no jurisdiction under the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement, and calling on the minister to harmonize the BAPE process with the James Bay agreement.
“Treaty trumps law,” Namagoose said. “We can’t allow a legal procedure to override the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement.”
Blanchet said while no exploration project requiring a permit from the Environment Department can go ahead until the BAPE panel reports, limited exploration work, not requiring a permit, may go ahead.
MORE:
< http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Que ... story.html >
kdougherty@montrealgazette.com Twitter: @doughertykr
mbeaudin@montrealgazette.com Twitter:@moniquebeaudin
More on This Story LINKS:
< http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Que ... story.html >
Gazette Exclusive: PQ to impose moratorium on uranium mining
Editorial: Is uranium mining in Quebec’s best interests?
Group presents a united front against uranium mining in Quebec
Quebecers divided on uranium mining: poll
PQ mulls broad consultation on uranium mining
= = = = =
Uranium Exploration: Mistissini Says "No" and Calls for a Moratorium
< http://www.marketwire.com/press-release ... 665798.htm >
June 05, 2012 20:13 ET
MISTISSINI, EEYOU ISTCHEE--(Marketwire - June 5, 2012) - The Chief of Cree Nation of Mistissini, Richard Shecapio, made it clear at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC) public hearing, held today (June 5) in Mistissini, that his community is firmly against uranium development in Eeyou Istchee. « We want to put an end to the question of uranium development once and for all, right now. We know where this is going and we don't want any uranium mining at all », said Chief Shecapio.
This hearing concerns Strateco Resources Inc.'s (Strateco) application for a licence to develop an underground exploration program at the Matoush Project, located approximately 260 kilometres north of Chibougamau, Québec. In November 2010, the Cree Nation of Mistissini expressed that this project did not have the support of the community. This position was reasserted again in 2011. Today, the Chief confirmed that nothing has changed and that the Cree Nation of Mistissini's position on uranium remains unchanged.
MORE:
< http://www.marketwire.com/press-release ... 665798.htm >
----- Original Message -----
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2013 1:28 PM
Subject: Quebec: Clarification regarding the Cree moratorium on uranium
In a recent message forwarded from the Saskatchewan-based Committee for Future Generations, sent just a few hours ago, there was a bit of confusion with regard to the Cree moratorium on uranium in Quebec.
Although the Cree Nation of Mistissini was courageously ahead of the uranium issue by opposing uranium development in their own backyard, the "nationalization" of this issue was due to the action of the Grand Council of the Crees, at the request of Mistissini and other Cree entities.
The Grand Council -- which represents all ten Cree communities -- is the body that enacted the Cree permanent moratorium in all of Eeyou-Istchee (the extensive Cree territory spanning much of Northern Quebec).
The Grand Council of the Crees is now engaged in diplomacy, litigation, advocacy and other efforts to implement and secure that permanent Cree moratorium. It appears that the Quebec government has not been entirely respectful with the Cree Nation in the mandate given to the BAPE (Bureau des audience publiques sur l'environnement. Office of Public Hearings on the Environment) to hold "generic" hearings on the environmental impacts of uranium mining in the province, given that the BAPE does not have jurisdiction in Cree territory.
See the Grand Council statement of March 28, 2013:
< http://www.gcc.ca/newsarticle.php?id=302 >
For an eloquent formulation of the Cree position, you can view the statement made by Shawn Iserhoff, Youth Chief of the Cree, at the March 11 2013 media conference in Quebec City.
< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIV4MLx8CQ >
Thanks to friends of CCNR for helping with these clarifications.
Gordon Edwards
President
www.ccnr.org
- - - - - -
Quebec becomes third province to impose uranium moratorium
< http://www.mining.com/quebec-becomes-th ... ium-26158/ >
Vladimir Basov | April 4, 2013
Quebec became the third Canadian province, after Nova Scotia and British Columbia, to establish a moratorium on uranium development.
Environment minister Yves-Francois Blanchet announced last Thursday no permits for exploration or mining will be issued until an independent study on the environmental impact and social acceptance of extracting uranium has been completed.
[ http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Que ... story.html ]
The minister delegated authority on uranium development issues to the province's office of public hearings on the environment (BAPE), which has the power to recommend all possible scenarios — from a permanent uranium ban to determining safe ways to develop resources of this radioactive metal.
Thus, unlike Nova Scotia and BC, the uranium moratorium in Quebec looks temporary at the moment as it is conditional to BAPE’s approval in every particular case.
Immediately after the moratorium was announced, the share price of Canadian-based Strateco Resources Inc. (TSE: RSC), which is developing the Matoush uranium deposit in Quebec, slumped by 67%.
Guy Hebert, Strateco's chief executive officer, denounced the moratorium in a written statement.
[ http://www.stockhouse.com/companies/sto ... sc/8777864 ]
MORE:
< http://www.mining.com/quebec-becomes-th ... ium-26158/ >
- - - - - -
Quebec imposes moratorium on uranium development
< http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Que ... story.html >
By Kevin Dougherty and Monique Beaudin, The Gazette March 28, 2013
QUEBEC — No permits for the exploration or mining of uranium in Quebec will be issued until an independent study on the environmental impact and social acceptance of extracting uranium has been completed, Environment Minister Yves-François Blanchet announced Thursday.
Blanchet has asked Quebec’s Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement to examine the issue of uranium development and uranium waste in general, with hearings throughout the province.
“Some people fear uranium more than iron or gold,” Blanchet said, explaining the BAPE will have full latitude to recommend all possible scenarios, from a permanent moratorium to determining safe ways to develop the heavy metal, used to fuel nuclear reactors and build nuclear bombs.
“As far as I know, this stuff is radioactive,” Blanchet said, adding he cannot predict the outcome of the study. “It might not be dangerous and it might be. This is the kind of issue that the Bureau will address.”
As a first step Thursday, Blanchet announced he has ordered scientific studies to prepare for the BAPE panel, which would begin its work in the fall, reporting in about a year.
The minister said the BAPE will decide how much time it needs for the study and he cannot interfere with its work.
Blanchet said he realizes the northern Quebec Crees of Eeyou Istchee have called for a permanent moratorium on uranium development and he hopes the Crees and other aboriginals participate in the process.
In a statement, the Crees welcomed the “moratorium,” while expressing reserves.
Bill Namagoose, executive director of the Grand Council of the Crees, said Blanchet’s decision has set off a “constitutional crisis,” explaining that the BAPE has no jurisdiction under the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement, and calling on the minister to harmonize the BAPE process with the James Bay agreement.
“Treaty trumps law,” Namagoose said. “We can’t allow a legal procedure to override the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement.”
Blanchet said while no exploration project requiring a permit from the Environment Department can go ahead until the BAPE panel reports, limited exploration work, not requiring a permit, may go ahead.
MORE:
< http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Que ... story.html >
kdougherty@montrealgazette.com Twitter: @doughertykr
mbeaudin@montrealgazette.com Twitter:@moniquebeaudin
More on This Story LINKS:
< http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Que ... story.html >
Gazette Exclusive: PQ to impose moratorium on uranium mining
Editorial: Is uranium mining in Quebec’s best interests?
Group presents a united front against uranium mining in Quebec
Quebecers divided on uranium mining: poll
PQ mulls broad consultation on uranium mining
= = = = =
Uranium Exploration: Mistissini Says "No" and Calls for a Moratorium
< http://www.marketwire.com/press-release ... 665798.htm >
June 05, 2012 20:13 ET
MISTISSINI, EEYOU ISTCHEE--(Marketwire - June 5, 2012) - The Chief of Cree Nation of Mistissini, Richard Shecapio, made it clear at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC) public hearing, held today (June 5) in Mistissini, that his community is firmly against uranium development in Eeyou Istchee. « We want to put an end to the question of uranium development once and for all, right now. We know where this is going and we don't want any uranium mining at all », said Chief Shecapio.
This hearing concerns Strateco Resources Inc.'s (Strateco) application for a licence to develop an underground exploration program at the Matoush Project, located approximately 260 kilometres north of Chibougamau, Québec. In November 2010, the Cree Nation of Mistissini expressed that this project did not have the support of the community. This position was reasserted again in 2011. Today, the Chief confirmed that nothing has changed and that the Cree Nation of Mistissini's position on uranium remains unchanged.
MORE:
< http://www.marketwire.com/press-release ... 665798.htm >
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9149
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
3 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Return to Uranium/Nuclear/Waste
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests