Tag: National Conversation

A Preventable Health Crisis – the toll of uranium mining

Uranium, when disturbed, dissolves readily in water thus contaminating wells and aquifers. When ingested, uranium is chemically toxic, affecting the kidneys, bones and other organs.

Uranium mine wastes contain 85% of the ore’s radioactivity and continue to generate new radioactive byproducts for thousands of years.

Uranium mining is hidden away in marginalized or Indigenous areas. The health effects on affected citizens remain understudied and are best described by them. Read the full December bulletin from the SMRs Information Task Force, HERE.

Ontario’s pricey nuclear power should give pause to NB Power

The high cost of subsidizing Ontario’s nuclear power generation and the exorbitant cost of plans for new nuclear development are good reasons for NB Power to abandon plans for more nuclear development in New Brunswick.

Here are two recent articles in the NB Media Co-op with the Ontario story:

Ford’s nuclear push could backfire with higher bills, US gas reliance: report

Ontario electricity supply costs jump 29 per cent as nuclear spending rises

A nuclear project with three strikes against it

Prime Minister Carney is giving two billion dollars of taxpayers’ money to a “nation-building” project that already has three strikes against it.

Touted as the western world’s first small modular nuclear reactor, to be built in Ontario, the BWRX is an American design, requiring enriched uranium fuel that must be purchased from a non-Canadian supplier, and is too expensive to be sold abroad. Three strikes.

CRED-NB is a member of the SMRs Information Task Force that publishes monthly bulletins sent to all MPs and MLAs in New Brunswick. Read the November bulletin, A costly way to depend on others, HERE.

Letter: no public funds for the Pathways Alliance Carbon Capture pipeline and storage project

CRED-NB is one of 49 organizations that signed an open letter opposing the use of public funds for the construction and operation of the Pathways Alliance Carbon Capture pipeline and underground storage facility (CCS) — which is currently on the federal government’s list of proposed nation-building projects.

Pathways Alliance — a group of oil companies responsible for 95% of tar sands production — are trying to get $16.5 billion of our public dollars for a risky and ineffective CCS project. As people across Canada struggle with the climate and cost-of-living crisis, top polluters are asking us to foot the bill for their greenwashing scheme.

Read the letter with the signatories HERE.

Boosting nuclear power is not nation-building

CRED-NB is a member of the national SMRs Information Task force which produces bilingual monthly bulletins sent to elected officials. The topic of the October bulletin is “Boosting nuclear power is not nation-building.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney has released his priority “nation-building projects,” including the Darlington New Nuclear Project (DNNP) in Ontario. He claims this project will “build Canada strong,” but nuclear power is the slowest, most expensive way of providing electricity, far greater than the costs of renewables and energy storage.

Read the full bulletin, in both official languages, HERE.

Canada’s absence from UN high-level climate summit sows confusion and uncertainty

CRED-NB is an active member of Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac). During the United Nations meetings in New York, CAN-Rac issued a statement on Sept. 24, after Prime Minister Carney withdrew last-minute from the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Summit.

Calling Canada’s action’s “embarrassing,” Caroline Brouillette, Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada, said: “This absence only sows more confusion and doubt, amid recent uncertainty over whether the federal government is still committed to Canada’s climate targets and to key emissions-reductions policies. Prime Minister Carney and his team need to get their act together and close the gap between words and actions before COP – both at a national and international level. Is Canada in, or out? Climate Action Network Canada and its members are watching.”

October 3 – 80 years of the Nuclear Age: Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki + M.V. Ramana

On Oct. 3 at 3 PM at the Fredericton Public Library: The opening of the poster exhibit: 80 years of the Nuclear Age: Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki will feature a talk by M.V. Ramana, Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at the University of British Columbia.

The exhibit, which will run for the month of October, is organized by CRED-NB Champion the CEDAR project in partnership with four departments and programs at St. Thomas University. More info HERE.

Confusion about a second repository for radioactive wastes

CRED-NB is a member of the network that publishes a monthly bulletin about small reactors and related issues. The bulletin is sent to all federal MPs and elected representatives in several provinces, including New Brunswick.

This month the topic is: Confusion About a Second Repository for Radioactive Wastes. In June, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) posted a “discussion paper” outlining their intention to site a second deep geological repository (DGR) for radioactive waste.

The NWMO announcement of an additional DGR has caused confusion. MPs are having trouble keeping the story straight among the various nuclear waste schemes. Read the complete bulletin HERE.

Join us at Draw the Line events in New Brunswick on Saturday, Sept. 20

CRED-NB and hundreds of civil society groups across the country are inviting their members to join the Sept. 20 mass day of action for people, for peace, for the planet. Join with hundreds of other people in the province who want more action on climate change, at one of the three actions in New Brunswick.

Sackville

We believe Sackville will be the largest of the three New Brunswick actions. The Sackville Draw the Line host is Seniors for Climate. CRED-NB will have a table at this one. If you participate in the Sackville event, drop by our information table to meet CRED-NB Chair, Ann McAllister.

The Sackville event poster is HERE. (en français ICI) The Draw the Line event is held in conjunction with the Sackville Fall Fair. The Draw the Line info tables will be at the Climate Corner of tables on Dufferin Street from 10:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m.

Saint John

The host of the Draw the Line – Menahkwesk (Saint John) event is People United Saint John. Meet at 11:00 AM at Liberation Square (Queen Square). The hosts have made more info available about their event and are asking everyone to register HERE for details.

Fredericton

The Fredericton Draw the Line event poster is HERE. The event hosts are the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre. Participants will meet at 1 PM at Fredericton City Hall, corner of Queen Street and York Street. The event will open with Wolastoqiyik cultural protocols from Wolastoqewi Kci-Sakom spasiqisit possesom – Ron Tremblay –  (Wolastoq Grand Chief Morning Star Burning), followed by speakers. After a march to the New Brunswick Legislature, light refreshments will be offered.  

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CRED-NB is a member of the Climate Action Network Canada who shared this info sheet to explain what the massive Draw the Line Day of Action on September 20th is all about. In addition to three flagship demonstrations in Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver, there are more than 60 actions taking place in cities, towns, and villages from coast to coast to coast.

CRED-NB was asked to share with you a letter signed by 21 social movement leaders published in the independent news outlet The Tyee: Draw the Line: Tell the Carney Government to Pick a Side.