Ignace willing to host nuclear waste

The Township of Ignace is sending a resounding "yes" to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to consider them as a host for a deep geological repository for Canada's nuclear fuel waste.
On Wednesday, during a special meeting between the town council and the township's Ad Hoc Willingness Committee, the results of a study done by consulting firm With Chela Inc. were unveiled.
The study found that out of 1,035 eligible voters, 660 people registered to vote. Of these, 640 people cast a vote with 495 or 77.3 per cent voting "yes," indicating that they were willing to continue to participate in the process and to proceed as a potential host community.
The remaining 133 residents or 20.8 per cent, voted "no" and indicated to stop participating in the process and 12 residents, or 1.9 per cent, indicated that they were indifferent.
The result was passed before the Township of Ignace council, who voted unanimously "yes" to officially express to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization that they are a willing community for the project.
Mayor Kim Baigrie said they were charged with assessing willingness for the township of Ignace only, and not surrounding communities.
"I am so excited. Our community spoke and they were the ones who endorsed what they wanted and that they want to continue in this process," she said.
"For those who are opposed, they are always welcome to come to the Learn More Centre and get more involved and educate themselves."
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization plans to select one of two sites that they have been studying since 2010. The sites include the Revell Site between Ignace and Dryden and the Teeswater site in the Municipality of South Bruce in southwestern Ontario.
Wendy O'Connor, a volunteer with We The Nuclear Free North, is quite uneasy with the way the results were determined and says the township survey goes through too many hands and doesn't really represent what the whole community wants.
The Township of Ignace passed a resolution in 2020 that the township itself would make the decision on behalf of the people of Ignace, unlike a referendum chosen by the Municipality of South Bruce, which will take place on Oct. 28, and in O'Connor's opinion, would give a better representation of that community's wishes.
"These survey results are gathered by a consultant, which processes them and puts them into the hands of an ad hoc committee that was formed last February. I know people who are against the project that applied to be on that committee and were denied," O'Connor said.
"The feeling is that the committee itself was biased towards the project, then gives its report to counsel, and counsel uses that to make the decision. So you can see the sense of immediacy of citizen opinion is not there."

Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal