On December 6, 2021, The Hill Times published an open letter by three medical doctors, addressed to Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The letter (which you can read HERE or download HERE), expressed concern about the federal government’s support for developing so-called small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). The three signatories: Nancy Covington, Charles King and Cathy Vakil, are medical doctors and members of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Canada (IPPNWC) and Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).
Minister Guilbeault delegated the task of responding to Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources Canada, who in turn tasked Assistant Deputy Minister Mollie Johnson. Her letter on March 8, 2022 to Drs. Covington, King and Vakil confirmed the government’s support for the SMR program. Johnson’s letter also noted the government’s ongoing support for the Moltex project, which is proposing to extract plutonium from spent nuclear fuel at the Point Lepreau nuclear plant on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick (download the Johnson letter HERE).
We encourage anyone who wishes to respond to this letter to do so. Send it to both Environment Minister Guilbeault (Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca) and Natural Resources Minister Wilkinson (Jonathan.Wilkinson@parl.gc.ca). If requested, we can host future letters and responses on this site (info@crednb.ca).