First Nations Rally in Pic Mobert Against Nuclear Waste
Rally participants in Pic Mobert First Nation Sunday, April 26, 2015.
Pic Mobert First Nation Chief Johanna Desmolin addresses rally.
PIC MOBERT FIRST NATION – “Today [Sunday, April 26, 2015] I had the honour and privilege to speak at a rally with a number of great speakers, leaders and community activists. The message was: NO TO NUCLEAR WASTE in their treaty, traditional lands,” stated Serpent River Chief Isadore Day.
“As First Nations, we do need to learn more, but not at the expense of buying blindly into the corporate mandate of NWMOs,” said Chief Day.
“We can, and should demand a learn more process at a government-to-government table; that’s what governments do,” urges Day.
Chief Day says that he believes, “It should be the Ontario government providing resources and information about Nuclear Waste since they are the polluter and they hold the financial liability. The reality is this; First Nations generally don’t want this in their back yard, but the right to know is still a liability that must be resolved”.
Councillor Louis Kwissiwa, Chief Patrick Madhabee, Chief Isadore Day at the Rally
Here is the statement from Chief Day Delivered at the Rally:
“The problem is; municipalities throughout Northern Ontario just don’t get it – Mayors and Councils, you have NO standing, say or authority on our lands. The problem is, NWMO has a mandate to seek a site to bury #NuclearWaste, they also have a money management mandate; which means that they are using a huge financial treasury to execute a mandate that is creating havoc in our territories”.
Money is the root of all the insanity and chaos – and municipalities are under a very bad case of Jurisdictional-Hallucination-thinking, and being left with the perception that they have a say or can open up the ‘willing host door’ to OUR TRADITIONAL and TREATY LANDS! They couldn’t be more wrong!
I issued a letter to the Ontario Premier last week to call on Canada and Ontario to sit down and work with First Nations to clear this mess up.
The Nuclear Waste Management Act was created in 2002 when the legal landscape was not so much in our favour. Consultation law and legal obligations to accommodate fair engagement and protection of First Nation rights was not what it is today; NWMO under new legal realities would not be able to run rough-shod in among our territories.
I am demanding immediate response from government on the NWMO mandate, the Nuclear Waste Management Act, 2002, and a call to a government-to-government dialogue on the jurisdictional issues and realities that must be observed when discussing #NuclearWaste.
The ongoing dog-and-pony show that NWMO is using to entertain a “learning more” process is NOT passive, non-intrusive, or without legal consequence or obligation.
It’s time that governments get this whole issue clear with First Nations and answer serious questions about the matter – on our terms; as First Nation governments.
I am not and will not purport to speak up, for or against any one First Nation on this matter – but I will make this one statement: Nuclear Waste has the potential to damage the land, divide our communities, and de-legitimize First Nation jurisdictional authority,
So for these reasons, I think it’s important that First Nations in Ontario and in specific treaty regions would serve their people greatly to come out against NWMO, Canada and Ontario with a constructive and collective position.
Until that time; we should all say NO to Nuclear Waste, NWMO and demand that Government open up a proper process.
As a candidate for Ontario Regional Chief – I am willing to stand up and stand firm in the issue of Nuclear Waste and I am prepared to push for a process to correct this mess we find ourselves in.
We must think about most important obligation we have as parents, leaders and knowledge keepers – Securing a Future for Our Children.
Chief Isadore Day
