Sunset Country Spirit Alliance

10/15/2026

The City of Dryden has stepped up! There could be a lot said about the timing, or the City's appeal for coverage of independent impact assessment expenses by the NWMO, but others can discuss. This is quite simply a very positive step and we hope it influences other nw Ontario municipalities to do the same - be responsive and responsible to residents, and protect them from the predatory nuclear industry and the federal government's attempts to remove environmental protections.

10/14/2026

The Dryden 2026 Election All Candidates Debate is tonight at 6pm Central, at the Centre. It will also be live-streamed at https://www.facebook.com/share/1J3zNgzyn6/ . Make sure to participate and be informed!

10/08/2026

**WTNFN's WEBINAR is Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7pm Eastern** Please join.
The federal gov't wants to declare the NWMO's nuclear DGR project a "Project of National Interest" to fast-track its impact assessment and ignore long-distance transportation and the million-year project lifespan (points the Impact Assessment Agency agreed to include after robust input from Canadians). Bill C-39, announced a mere 3 days later, could cement these changes, fast-tracking an array of projects that merit much more stringent review. Join WTNFN online on Oct. 8 @ 7pm Eastern to talk, learn, share analysis and action. Together we are strong.
Register HERE: https://tinyurl.com/Oct26-deadline

REMINDER: WEBINAR Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7pm Eastern
The federal gov't wants to declare the NWMO's nuclear DGR project a "Project of National Interest" to fast-track its impact assessment and ignore long-distance transportation and the million-year project lifespan (points the Impact Assessment Agency agreed to include after robust input from Canadians). Bill C-39, announced a mere 3 days later, could cement these changes, fast-tracking an array of projects that merit much more stringent review. Join us online on Oct. 8 @ 7pm eastern to talk, learn, share analysis and action. Together we are strong. Register HERE: https://tinyurl.com/Oct26-deadline

10/04/2026

There's an Oct. 26 deadline to comment on the federal proposal to designate the NWMO's nuclear fuel waste repositoryin the heart of Sunset Country/Treaty #3 territory as a "project of nat'l interest" and sidestep the promised Impact Assessment process. For more info on responding, register for We the Nuclear Free North's webinar, this coming Thursday, Oct. 8. Registration: https://tinyurl.com/Oct26-deadline

The federal gov't wants to give the NWMO's nuclear DGR project a special designation as a "Project of National Interest" to fast-track its impact assessment and ignore long-distance transportation and the million-year project lifespan (points the Impact Assessment Agency agreed to include after robust input from Canadians). Bill C-39 could cement these changes, fast-tracking an array of projects that merit much more stringent review. Join us online on Oct. 8 @ 7pm eastern to talk, learn, share analysis and action. Together we are strong. Register HERE: https://tinyurl.com/Oct26-deadline

10/03/2026

**This is important, as an NWMO rep. has admitted that nuclear fuel waste may travel through Atikokan to the DGR project - the first Atikokan has heard of this.**
FORT FRANCES TIMES ARTICLE, Oct. 1, 2026 - NWMO says "Reasonable to think” some used nuclear fuel shipments would pass through Atikokan
by Charlie Dickson, courtesy of the Atikokan Progress
______________________________________
Atikokan Council met early for a special session on Monday, welcoming a delegation from the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO).

Erik Kremer, a senior advisor with NWMO, spoke to Council about the program, and afterwards answered several questions posed by councillors.

“I think it comes down to trust,” said Kremer in response to Councillor Shine’s question regarding the difficulties of getting public approval. “It is not that Canada is the only country in the world that has controversy. But there are certainly other countries that have more confidence in their government, research facilities, industries, etc.”

Furthermore, distrust is especially magnified in the nuclear industry, since it is already particularly controversial.

Councillors asked a variety of questions about transportation, specifically about Atikokan’s place as an alternative trucking route for the waste.

“It is reasonable to think that trucks would come through this neighbourhood,” said representative Jamie Matear, projecting possible routes for when the first shipments start in 2043.

Kremer also presented videos of impact, puncture, thermal and immersion tests the organization has run, in an attempt to demonstrate that, in the event of an accident on the road, there would be no additional hazard posed by the used fuel.

Mayor Rob Ferguson concluded the meeting with a blunt message. “I was very disappointed that we weren’t included in the original assessment,” he said.

Atikokan became a specific focus in NWMO planning only after the Town had requested to be consulted.

“I find it insulting [we] weren’t included in the initial phase. Our citizens and council were taken for granted, and we were not consulted properly,” adding that the importance of Highway 11 as an alternative route warranted a place for Atikokan within their planning.

“Perhaps we made a mistake, and we are sorry for that,” Matear responded.

Councillor Stimson, however, presented a different perspective. “I don’t think we were slighted,” he said. “I hope the mayor’s statement doesn’t speak for the whole council. It doesn’t reflect everyone’s perspective.”

Chantelle Gascon, NWMO’s municipal relations manager, concluded the delegation by offering tours and educational sessions to councillors. The NWMO maintains an office located at 304 Main St. in Ignace, open to the public during regular business hours.

09/27/2026

The federal government's proposal to designate the nuclear industry's nuclear fuel waste abandonment project in NW Ontario a "Project of National Interest" and fast-track it through assessment processes flies in the face of the rights of Treaty people. Tell them so - respond to them by Oct. 26! Link in WTNFN message below.

Unfortunately, this image by artist Mary McPherson is still apt, since the federal government took its latest step to short-circuit the review of the NWMO's DGR project. If the project is declared a "Project of National Interest," the full impact assessment process by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, for which both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and organizations fought so hard this spring, will be derailed. We need to push back - comments will be accepted by the federal government until Oct. 26 - for more information and a link to the government's Notice, visit https://wethenuclearfreenorth.ca/bypassing-public-review/

09/23/2026

Read We the Nuclear Free North's September Newsletter - News, analysis and links to take action. https://tinyurl.com/WTNFNNewsSeptember

Read our September Newsletter - New, analysis and links to take action. https://tinyurl.com/WTNFNNewsSeptember

09/21/2026

Note the email address at the bottom of the release (in the original post), where you can send your comments to the federal government. Canadians, including and especially us in Sunset Country/Treaty #3 territory, deserve the recently promised full impact assessment for this monumental and risky proposed project. We must settle for nothing less. Deadline for comments is Oct. 26.

WTNFN MEDIA RELEASE
September 21, 2026

Designation of NWMO's DGR as Project of National Recklessness

Ottawa – An announcement on Friday that the federal government has taken the next step to short-circuit the review of a contentious nuclear waste project is receiving pushback from critics and Indigenous leaders who are demanding a comprehensive and independent review before any federal approvals can be granted.

Notice was posted in the Canada Gazette that the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO’s) Deep Geological Repository (DGR) project for all of Canada’s nuclear fuel waste is proposed for designation as a “Project of National Interest” under the Building Canada Act. This designation would guarantee project approval and would circumvent the Impact Assessment process. The Notice also proposes a reduced scope of the project, eliminating long-distance transportation and long-term safety from whatever evaluation the federal government might employ in developing their conditions for the approval.

Opposition to the project’s designation as a Project of National Interest centres around the recognition that if so designated, the project will not receive a comprehensive impact assessment and key areas of concern – namely transportation and long-term safety – will escape scrutiny.

“If the NWMO's project was sound and they could make the safety case for their nuclear waste transportation and burial project there would be no hesitation on the part of the nuclear industry or the federal government to have it subject to a comprehensive and independent assessment", commented Brennain Lloyd, project coordinator with Northwatch.

"This move to shield the deep geological repository scheme from scrutiny says it all - the NWMO's concept can't stand up to technical or public review. But limiting its review will not limit its impact."

The proposal to designate the NWMO’s DGR as a project of national interest has been put forward by the federal government despite strong opposition expressed by Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations, and evidenced by public protests, lawn signs, letters to newspapers and public agencies, and most especially by the more than 1,000 comments submitted by Canadians during the planning phase of the federal impact assessment’s, expressing either opposition to the project or significant concerns about how it would be carried out. The first phase of the federal review began in January and on July 3 the federal government announced the commencement of the impact assessment process.

“Canadians fought hard to ensure that the project would receive a full impact assessment including a comprehensive examination of long-distance waste transportation,” said Wendy O’Connor, volunteer with Nuclear Free Thunder Bay.

“The Impact Assessment Agency agreed. That the federal government could now ignore Canadians’ wishes and sidestep the full assessment process Canadians were promised is shocking, unjust and unwise.”

"Considering the project’s novelty, scale, duration and potential for long-lived and irreversible effects from transporting and burying such an unprecedented volume of highly radioactive nuclear waste, it would be absolutely reckless for the government to fast track the approval of this project. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada is the sole body with the mandate and expertise to evaluate the environmental, health, social, economic, cumulative, and rights-related impacts of major federal industrial projects. It must remain the lead authority for nuclear-related impact assessments,” said Mary Veltri of Environment North.

In May the federal government proposed in its ‘Getting Major Projects Built in Canada’ discussion paper that nuclear projects be vetted by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) rather than the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. Canadians’ response was noted their resulting report, “What We Heard”. The report specifically mentions nuclear projects as one where opponents argued that having the assessment carried out by the sector regulator alone would weaken the scrutiny of cumulative effects, species at risk, and Indigenous rights, and diminish public participation.

The Notice in the Canada Gazette invites the public to comment on the proposal that NWMO’s DGR project be designated as a Project of National Interest. We the Nuclear Free North strongly urges Canadians to do so, and will be providing analysis and more information to support public engagement.

Comments may be emailed to:
[email protected]
with a deadline of October 26.

09/12/2026

Come visit Sunset Country Spirit Alliance and We the Nuclear Free North's table at the Melgund Twp. Arts Exhibition and Music Jamboree at the Dyment Community Centre, tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 12) from 1-6 pm! More info at https://melgundrecreation.ca/arts-and-culture/fall-arts-exhibition-opens-september-12-in-melgund/

09/04/2026

Ask your candidates about NWMO's nuclear waste project: are they concerned? Will they support their municipality passing a resolution?

Ask your candidates: Are you concerned about NWMO's project to transport, process, bury and abandon of all of Canada's high-level nuclear waste at the Revell site in northwestern Ontario?
https://tinyurl.com/Municipal-Release