To the editor,
On Jan. 11, just two hours before our presentation to South Bruce Council, on behalf of the 1,258 residents and ratepayers requesting a referendum to coincide with the Oct. 24, 2022 election, Protect Our Waterways received notice of a change.
Contrary to an earlier agreement for a closed session of council to provide the names on the petition, South Bruce CAO Leanne Martin informed us that the request for confidentiality was now uncertain.
We went ahead with our presentation and didn’t release the names on the petition. Upon conclusion of our presentation, Mayor Robert Buckle instructed us to return at a future date with the names of those that had signed the petition.
Subsequently, we requested that a council member review, verify the petition names and inform all council members. This too was denied.
On Feb. 3 the updated petition and presentation was accepted by the municipal clerk. To our surprise, at the onset of our Feb. 8 presentation, we were informed by Mayor Buckle that we could only speak about the petition itself. Since it was, we proceeded, but before we could get to slide 2, Mayor Buckle stopped us.
Why did council ask us to return with the petition, and then choose not to listen to our presentation? Their only action was to note that it had been received and file it. Was this a way to make those names available to other interested parties?
In a community already divided by this project, we can only hope that people’s rights will not be violated.
Council wasn’t willing to listen to our presentation on Feb. 8, but we’ll share it now:
Council’s response to the Jan. 11 presentation of the petition encouraged 439 additional residents to add their names – 1,697 residents have now requested their voice be heard in the October 2022 election regarding the NWMO (Nuclear Waste Management Organization) project. That is 316 more votes than Mayor Buckle received in the 2018 election, representing more than 36 per cent of eligible voters registered for the 2018 election.
This number includes constituents for and against the DGR project. Residents need and want the opportunity to choose the future of their community so they can plan their future.
As requested by Mayor Buckle at the Jan. 11 council meeting, we attempted to compare the petition against the official eligible voters list. At the municipal office we were shown a large binder containing the roll number and registered owner of each property. Only the owners are shown, not other eligible voters living on those properties or residents who rent their homes.
We requested the eligible voters list but were told that the municipality doesn’t have one. On each petition card, along with their signature, we asked every person to confirm that they were a resident or ratepayer in South Bruce.
We don’t need more time for studies. The timeline indicates that the peer review studies will be completed in 2022. Baseline studies are only important if the project gets approval and goes ahead. The environmental studies, again, if those come back with negative results the DGR cannot be built even if the community is willing. The one study that isn’t scheduled to be completed in 2022 is the fiscal impact study. This study is delayed by the lack of input from the NWMO on how they will compensate South Bruce for allowing the NWMO to build a DGR to store all of Canada’s radioactive nuclear spent fuel. It’s time for the NWMO to make firm, specific commitments so this study can be completed. There’s no reason this study can’t be completed before the 2022 election.
Over the past two years South Bruce has become known as a “divided community” – in our local newspapers, national media coverage, media outlets in the United States and beyond, our community is in the headlines. Council, you had the ability to give the residents a voice, to make their choice so the community could move forward. You could’ve led the community towards the first steps in restoring unity. You’ve missed the Feb. 19, 2022 deadline to announce the intent to pass a bylaw on this issue. When will this become a community-driven process?
Council chose not to act on the request of 36 per cent of their constituents, so we ask – what number would it take to have this council listen to the voters of South Bruce?
Directors of Protect Our Waterways – No Nuclear Waste
Teeswater
