Green Party to participate in Citizens’ Inquiry on uranium cycle

OTTAWA – The Green Party will participate in the Citizens’ Inquiry on the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle, sponsored by the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU), when it comes to Ottawa in April. After mounting strong opposition to uranium mining in Eastern Ontario last fall, CCAMU initiated the Citizens’ Inquiry when it became clear the Ontario provincial government was failing to act to safeguard human and environmental health by halting plans to mine.

“We are looking forward to the opportunity to participate in this inquiry. The Green Party has long insisted on a Canada-wide moratorium on mining and refining uranium,” said Green Party leader Elizabeth May. “Uranium mining and nuclear energy are unsafe, environmentally damaging, not a solution to the climate crisis and closely linked the nuclear weapons proliferation. Uranium must be left in the ground and we fully support efforts by CCAMU and other groups to accomplish this goal.”

Like CCAMU, the Green Party is distressed by uranium exploration that began last year in eastern Ontario, as well as western Quebec and other parts of Canada. Uranium mining has serious health and environmental impacts, including major risks to the surrounding ecosystem, the health of mine workers and the health of people nearby. Worryingly, two major river systems near the eastern Ontario site are upriver from Ottawa.

Eleven municipal Councils, including Kingston and Ottawa, and two counties, in eastern Ontario, numerous associations, two affected First Nations communities, several not-for-profit organizations and thousands of Ontario residents and others from around the world have appealed to the province of Ontario for a moratorium into exploration and mining of uranium.

In the absence of action from the McGuinty government, Greenpeace, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, David Suzuki Foundation, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, MiningWatch Canada, Students Against Climate Change, Voice of Women and Sierra Club of Canada announced a citizen's inquiry on December 13, 2007. The Inquiry will hold public hearings in Sharbot Lake, Kingston, Peterborough and Ottawa in April.