Harper Back-Doors Canadians on Nuclear Power

Canada's new government [choke] has once again proven that their word is meaningless and has thwarted the right for Canadians to be involved in important decisions about our country. I'm referring to the announcement that our country has just signed on to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) without any public consultation whatsoever. This vile agreement has been forced on Canadians not only without our input but through deceitful tactics such as the outright denial of Canada's involvement while secret meetings were held.

"Conservatives are making government more accountable to build a stronger, safer, better Canada."...that right from the Conservative Party's own website. But signing on to GNEP is the antithesis to accountability. How can you claim to be accountable when you sign on to agreements while fervently keeping Canadians in the dark? Liar! Signing on to GNEP will certainly not make Canada any safer. Nuclear waste and uranium mining are anything but safe. Perhaps Harper thinks that snuggling up even closer to a shaky American economy, not to mention that the US is quickly becoming one of the most abhorred countries in the world, will make Canada stronger and better. But I say "stronger, safer, better Canada" through GNEP...lies, all lies! Harper's an ASS!

Harper seems to think that as long as he says what Canadians want to hear, he can do whatever the hell he (read Bush) wants. We are seeing this with the climate crisis and Haper's refusal to make any commitment to meaningful greenhouse gas reduction targets while our tar sand developments expand uncontrolled, oil tankers enter our waters illegally, LNG terminals are looming on the horizon, and new pipelines are being examined. Harper is driving us deeper into the hole of an unsustainable, filthy, environmental disaster of an economy, instead of working towards a healthy, vibrant sustainable future for our country and the world.

"As the world's largest producer of uranium and a country taking steps to tackle climate change through the development of clean energy technology, Canada's responsibility is to help shape the safe and secure development of nuclear energy worldwide, said Minister Lunn" per a Natural Resources Canada press release. Please don't tell me that nuclear energy will help combat climate change. Even if that were true, the climate crisis is but one of many environmental tragedies, and we cannot focus on reducing greenhouse gases alone at the expense of cleaning up the rest of our act. It does not make any sense whatsoever to replace dirty oil with nuclear waste, or, more likely, to expand both. Minister Lunn, please don't spout the rhetoric that nuclear energy is clean and safe. You fail to mention the environmental and health impacts of uranium mining in your press release. You also fail to acknowledge that the massive amount of concrete needed to build just one nuclear power plant releases huge amounts of greenhouse gases. Please don't tell me that nuclear power and GNEP will reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation. The more nuclear waste we produce, the greater the risk of nuclear proliferation and terrorist threat.

Harper, Lunn, and the rest of the Conservatives seem to think that Canadians are stupid. Or at the very least, that we are overwhelmed by the massive challenges we face in combating climate change and a myriad of other environmental tragedies and that we will just bury our head in the sand while they heap more trash on our backs. Sadly, I think they might be right.

If you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. That's what Keeping Down with the Jones' is all about. For Canadians that do not want to bury their head in the sand, here are links to information from both sides of the debate...

• Natural Resources Canada press release
• Greenpeace Canada would like to see all nuclear power plants shut down. They have launched a petition to name a nuclear power plant after pro-nukes Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.
• No Nukes
• Nuclear Information and Resource Service "is the information and networking center for citizens and environmental organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation, and sustainable energy issues". Although primarily US related, and none (as of writing) specific to GNEP, there is a huge list of Action Alerts there.
• Read the Pembina Institute's report "Nuclear Power in Canada: An Examination of Risks, Impacts and Sustainability".
• Sierra Club of Canada is working "Towards a Nuclear-Free Canada".
• Dr. Patrick Moore, former Greenpeace co-founder cum industry shill, will do anything for a buck, promoting everything from nuclear energy to fish farms, from genetically modified rice to toxic PBDEs.
• James Lovelock, of Gaia theory fame, was once an environmental hero of mine...until he came out in support of nuclear power.