Editor’s note: The following is an open letter addressed to the South Bruce Community Liaison Committee (CLC), South Bruce council and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO).
As I read the communication write up released on Jan. 13, I was quite disappointed to see that, “The CLC voted to continue holding meetings on the first Thursday of every month, excluding April, and to continue in a virtual format until the CLC revisits the issue.”
When exactly does the CLC intend to revisit this issue?
As we look around the community and beyond, we see that most organizations have returned to in-person meetings. In fact, we see CLC members taking part in some of these meetings. Why are they avoiding public meetings as part of the CLC?
In August 2022, the NWMO announced that they were delaying the site selection date to 2024. Lise Morton, vice-president of site selection at the NWMO, was quoted as saying, “We have experienced significant delays in our face-to-face consultation and interaction activities, particularly in communities exploring their suitability to host the project.”
So why hasn’t the NWMO instructed the CLC committee to hold open public meetings? Looking back to the last two public CLC meetings, held in February and March of 2020, those meetings saw high public attendance.
Zoom meetings do not have the same rate of attendance because people don’t feel included and it is controlled by the CLC – they control which questions are asked and they don’t allow people to ask any follow-up questions.
According to the original South Bruce Community Liaison Committee website (www.clcinfo.ca/southbruce), “Our intention is not to promote Canada’s plan for the long-term management of used nuclear fuel,” rather it is “to gather as much information as possible about the project to help the community make an informed decision about South Bruce’s continued participation in the siting process.”
Yet, there has only ever been one speaker invited to share any information about the risks associated with this project.
Their new page on the municipality’s website (southbruce.ca/en/municipal-government/about-the-clc.aspx) has a modified mandate.
“We are working to provide information for, and gather feedback from, the community to help make an informed decision about the Municipality of South Bruce’s participation in the site selection process.”
Note the subtle shift from the ‘community making an informed decision’ to ‘help make an informed decision.’ Is that influencing what information and which speakers are selected to present at their meetings?
There is no reason why the meetings can’t be hosted in public, live-streamed for people to watch at home and the student members who don’t want to travel home can be connected through an online meeting platform.
When will the CLC start to truly engage with the public? Over and over we are informed that we may not talk about the proposed project as part of public events yet the committee that should be providing that opportunity for public discussions refuses to hold public meetings. When will they allow public dialogue and real debate instead of their one-sided controlled agenda?
When will council instruct this committee of council to start hosting in-person meetings?
When will the NWMO instruct the CLC to host meetings that include face-to-face interactions?
And one more question for everyone. If the CLC’s purpose is to inform and educate the members of the community, what is the reason for all the money that flows through the CLC into the community in the form of donations? How does the CLC giving people money provide information about the risks and benefits of the DGR?
Michelle Stein
Teeswater
