ANISHINABEK NATION HEAD OFFICE (April 6, 2018) – Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee says that the Anishinabek Nation is standing with the Iroquois Caucus opposing the unprecedented 10-year license to run Chalk River Laboratories. The license from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission gives the consortium free rein to advance its nuclear business at the federally-owned facility, located on the Ottawa River.
“The new license sets the stage for the building and testing of a new generation of small nuclear reactors at Chalk River,” says Grand Council Chief Madahbee. “They are going to create a giant dump on the surface that could leach radioactive waste into the Ottawa River. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has completely disregarded our concerns and recommendations. We assert inherent ownership of the water and jurisdiction within our regions and traditional territories. As I have said before, we will stand with our Iroquois allies to protect the drinking water. Water is the lifeblood of Mother Earth.”
Anishinabek First Nations are the caretakers of the land, water air and resources within our regions and traditional territories.
According to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – to which Canada is signatory – States shall take effective measures to ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories of indigenous peoples without their free, prior and informed consent.
The Anishinabek Nation is the political advocate for 40 member communities across Ontario, representing approximately 60,000 people. The Anishinabek Nation is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.
