Treaty 3 agreement with nuclear waste management group criticized by some leaders, elders

An agreement signed between Grand Council Treaty #3 (GCT#3) and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has raised the ire of some First Nation leaders and elders in the territory. 

Treaty #3 passed a resolution last Wednesday at its chiefs assembly in Lac Seul First Nation to renew what it describes as an ongoing relationship with the organization – which is working to develop a deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants. 

But the chief of Ojibways of Onigamiing First Nation, Jeff Copenace, criticized the agreement and accused the organization of not being transparent in how it was brought forward. 

The text of the agreement wasn't even circulated at the meeting until a chief requested it, Copenace said. 

"There's over a million dollars – $1.1 million, maybe almost $1.2 million – dedicated specifically for lawyers and legal fees, for nuclear sector experts and consultants," he said of the agreement.

"But there's only a couple hundred thousand dollars dedicated to engaging community members whose, again – these are the rights that they're trampling on. It's their treaty rights. It's not the chiefs'."

Copenace has worked in both government and the natural resource sector in the past, and he knows how industry proponents operate, he said. 

"The fact that this agreement focuses on the long-term management of used nuclear fuel in Canada during an adaptive phased management site selection process is enough to have concern," he added.

Contacted for a response on Friday, Treaty #3 Territorial Planning Unit director Lucas King said the organization's office was closed for the day and referred CBC to its news release issued Thursday. 

The release states that the agreement "does not consent or imply any consent to NWMO's Adaptive Phased Management (APM) project or its site selection process."

"The Chiefs in Assembly continue to support the Elders Declaration of 2011, opposing the storage of nuclear waste in Treaty #3," it said.

The agreement also does not constitute consultation on the nuclear waste storage project, it said.

"Our staff at Grand Council and our legal advice spent months ensuring this agreement in no way limited our options in regard to our relationship with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization," said Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh in the statement.

But a former grand chief of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty #3 dismissed the idea that First Nations could take money from a project proponent and continue to oppose the project.