Category: Coalition news

Rallies will be held across Canada on Saturday Nov. 5 in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people and the defense of their land from a proposed gas pipeline. The Coastal Gaslink (CGL) pipeline would transport fracked natural gas across Wet’suwet’en territory to a proposed export terminal in Kitimat, BC.

The Climate Justice Coalition in the Moncton region is joining with other environmental and Indigenous allies and groups such as Decolonial Solidarity, LeadNow, Extinction Rebellion, the Suzuki Foundation, 350.org, and others on November 5th to oppose development of the Coastal Gas Link pipeline. The rally will be focussed on the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC),  the largest funder of the Coastal Gas Link pipeline. Details for the action in Moncton are below:

Decolonial Solidarity Moncton – We Are All One – Kill the Drill
Start: Saturday, November 05, 2022 11:15 AM
Royal Bank of Canada
719 Mountain Rd Moncton, NB E1C 8H9

CRED-NB is one of 83 groups that today wrote to the Prime Minister and the federal Minister of Natural Resources urging them to ensure that radioactive waste strategies are established subsequent to a new policy on radioactive waste and decommissioning and are developed with the full engagement of the Canadian public and Indigenous peoples.

Our letter points out that, as the record shows, civil society participated extensively in the Natural Resources Canada review of Canada’s radioactive waste policy, engaging in all opportunities for public input and providing extensive written comments throughout and on the draft policy.

In contrast, CRED-NB and other groups did not engage in the Nuclear Waste Management Organization exercise, for reasons clearly set out in this and  previous correspondence. 

The letter sets out these concerns, offers a way forward, and requests a meeting. We will keep you posted re any response!

Here’s the letter in English and French.

“Earlier this week, the Government of New Brunswick delivered its speech from the throne to open a new session of the legislature. The speech did not respectfully reflect that it was delivered on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqey peoples, rather it adopted Higgs’ government’s new revisionist land acknowledgement which fails to recognize our Nations as the proper title and rights holders over these lands, and ignores the solemn promises of our Peace and Friendship Treaties.”

Read the full statement by Indigenous leaders HERE.

ROTHESAY, NB – In a long hoped-for decision, the federal Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) has begun reviewing a formal request from the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB) to subject the small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) proposed by NB Power for Point Lepreau on the Bay of Fundy to a full federal Impact Assessment (IA). A final decision from the Minister of Environment, Steven Guilbeault, is anticipated by January 2, 2023.

“This is a victory for citizens seeking oversight and good process,” said Louise Comeau, director of climate change and energy solutions at the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

NB Power has proposed to build the ARC-100 – a small modular nuclear reactor that is a “first of its kind,” according to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The reactor design includes using liquid sodium as a coolant, a material that reacts violently on contact with air or water. Sodium-cooled nuclear reactors have never been successfully commercialized. In other countries, attempts to do so have resulted in major environmental cleanups that were more costly than the original reactor builds.

Despite the potential for significant environmental impacts, the ARC-100 SMR is currently exempt from IA. This exemption (due to successful nuclear industry lobbying) means there would be no comprehensive examination of the project’s risks, costs and benefits, and downstream impacts before a decision is made to site one in New Brunswick.

“As early as June of next year, NB Power wants a licence from the nuclear regulator to proceed with site prep for the ARC nuclear reactor. There are many challenges, however, a licence can’t address that an impact assessment can,” noted Ann McAllister, spokesperson for CRED-NB “For instance, what is the economic feasibility of the project? And, given that the ARC SMR has a sodium coolant – meaning its wastes will become a new class of highly radioactive and corrosive waste – what is its impact on existing radioactive waste storage plans? These are just a few of the critical issues the nuclear regulator won’t be weighing in on in deciding whether or not to grant a site prep licence.”

Building SMRs such as the ARC-100 on the Bay of Fundy at Point Lepreau is strongly opposed by both the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group and the Wolastoq Grand Council. Both organizations support the designation request by CRED-NB.

The letter of support from the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group for the designation request noted that the planned location of New Brunswick’s small modular nuclear reactor experiment is within the homeland, Peskotomuhkatihkuk. In his letter to Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, Chief Hugh Akagi said his organization “strongly supports CRED’s request and trust that you will designate the project for an IA because both the Treaty relationship as well as Canada’s commitments to Indigenous peoples dictates it should be so.”

In their letter of support, the Wolastoq Grand Council noted that they have, on many occasions, stated their concerns relating to the SMR planned for their Homeland and the long-term effects. Grand Chief spasaqsit possesom – Ron Tremblay asked for their ‘Resolution on Nuclear energy developments and nuclear waste use and disposal on Wolastokuk’ to be included in the request. The Resolution quotes Article 29(2) of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which states that “States shall take effective measures to ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the homelands of Indigenous peoples without their free, prior and informed consent.”

“If the Minister agrees to grant CRED-NB’s request for an impact assessment, it would be the first nuclear project in Canada to be subject to the Impact Assessment Act,” noted Kerrie Blaise, a lawyer with the Canadian Environmental Law Association. “We’ve seen a gradual rollback of the number and type of nuclear projects subject to impact assessments, despite knowing IAs improve the fairness of decisions and the public’s participation rights.”

The Minister now has 90 days to respond to the request to designate the SMR project for an impact assessment. The IAAC will also put forth a recommendation to the Minister which will include “concerns expressed from the public … and Indigenous groups.” A project-specific webpage has been launched by the Agency, which will be updated as the review proceeds.

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For more information:

The CRED-NB request on July 4, 2022 to federal Environment Minister Guilbeault to designate the project for a federal Impact Assessment is HERE. The most recent response from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada on October 5, 2022 is HERE.

For comment:

Ann McAllister, spokesperson

Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB)

Phone: 506-898-1821

Email: annmcallister72@gmail.com

Louise Comeau, director of climate change and energy solutions

Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Phone: 506-238-0355

Email: louise.comeau@conservationcouncil.ca

CRED-NB is one of 120 groups (and counting) across Canada that have signed on to a public statement calling out SMRs as dirty, dangerous distractions to real climate action. The Ontario Clean Air Alliance made a handout with the statement and the list of signatory groups as of June 2022. Download and share at your next event! The link is HERE.

“What if the wind doesn’t blow?” CRED-NB was co-host in the Sierra Club’s webinar conversation with internationally renowned renewable energy expert Dr. Mark Jacobson in September. The video of the event is HERE.

Did you know that modern medicine does not depend on nuclear power? All electricity producing reactors in Canada and around the world could be shut down permanently with little or no impact on best medical practices.

Hospitals do not need nuclear power, and never have. Any isotopes (radioactive materials) that are considered medically required can be produced by accelerators or small research reactors. These are different reactors than the kind that produce electricity.

For more info, check out the fact sheet produced by the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, HERE. At the end of the one-page fact sheet is a link to more detailed information supporting all the facts.

The CBC Saskatchewan radio program Blue Sky invited CRED-NB representative Susan O’Donnell to a call-in show on Sept. 22 on the issue of SMRs in the province. Susan shared her knowledge about SMR development, including New Brunswick’s current experience with nuclear power at the Point Lepreau reactor.

Listen to the portion of the show including Susan, HERE, or the entire Blue Sky segment with all guests on the CBC site, HERE, including David Geary from CRED-NB collaborators Clean Green Saskatchewan.

Join us for a webinar with internationally renowned renewable energy expert Dr. Mark Jacobson, Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 8pm Atlantic by zoom. Register HERE.

NB Power executives and their friends in the nuclear industry like to diss renewable energy with the tiresome phrase: “the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow” – duh! We’ve never heard of the sun not shining or the wind not blowing for a month in New Brunswick, and the Lepreau reactor has been down much longer than that! What happens then? We have many options for intermittent power.

Dr. Jacobson is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, where he is the Director of the Atmosphere/Energy program. He has written extensively on how to transition to 100 percent wind, water, and solar in all energy sectors, as well as on electricity grid reliability under those scenarios.

This webinar is hosted by the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, CRED-NB and other partners. Join us for this interesting conversation!

Premier Blaine Higgs has hinted he would like to end the moratorium on fracking in the province. The premier is also pushing a private-sector company, Repsol, to convert its Saint John LNG (liquefied natural gas) import terminal into an export terminal to help Germany with its energy woes.

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick and CRED-NB core member the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance (NBASGA) have published a fact sheet to unpack this situation. Read it HERE.