Re-cap: Not the Nuclear Lobby
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A rally on Parliament Hill, an event at the National Press Gallery, a public debate at the University of Ottawa, an information panel at a local gathering place, and meetings with MPs in their Hill offices – all were on the agenda of the Not the Nuclear Lobby at the end of April. In all our events, we shared info that the nuclear lobby is not sharing about small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), nuclear waste, and plutonium reprocessing.
On this page are some highlights of our time in Ottawa. The week was a collaboration by groups across the country, including: the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick, Northwatch, Ontario Clean Air Alliance, Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, Interchurch-Uranium Educational Co-operative, Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan, Protect our Waterways - No Nuclear Waste, The Council of Canadians, Concerned Citizens of Manitoba and le Ralliement contre la pollution radioactive.
Organizing meeting, Monday April 24
On Monday local and visiting activists held an all-day meeting at the downtown boardroom of the Climate Action Network. After almost three years of meeting by zoom, we were happy to finally meet in person, and throughout the week we shared meals and took time together to discuss ideas for our ongoing campaigns. At our Ottawa meeting, we reviewed the three handouts that we left with MPs throughout the week:
Photos: Angela Bischoff
Red Light for Nuclear Buildup Rally, Tuesday, April 25
Tuesday was our first public event, the Red Light for Nuclear Buildup rally at the Centennial flame on Parliament Hill, organized by the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area and the Council of Canadians Ottawa Chapter, featuring speakers and songs by the Raging Grannies. Here's a photo (taken by supporter Peter Stockdale). 
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Media coverage of Our Not the Nuclear Lobby week
1. CBC
Our media release The week kicked off with a bilingual media advisory on Monday, April 24 followed by the media release the next day sent to almost 1,000 media outlets across Canada: |
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Press Conference, Tuesday, April 25
Following the rally we held an event at the National Press Theatre with four MPs that was widely covered by the media (links to media articles are at the end of this report). The 38-minute video of the event (in original official languages) is HERE Here's a photo taken by our media liaison Eva Schacherl after the media event. Right to left: MP Mario Simard, Bloc Québécois; Ginette Charbonneau, Ralliement contre la pollution radioactive; MP Elizabeth May, Green Party; MP Alexandre Boulerice, NDP; MP Jenica Atwin, Liberal Party; Susan O'Donnell, Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick; and Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (Gordon was in the audience and available for media interviews).
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Public Debate, Tuesday, April 25: Do We Need to Scale Up Nuclear Power to Combat Climate Change?
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Our group co-organized an event held Tuesday evening at the University of Ottawa, hosted by the Centre for International Policy Studies. Gordon Edwards, President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, and Dr. Chris Keefer, President of Canadians for Nuclear Energy, debated the question: Do We Need to Scale up Nuclear Power to Combat Climate Change?
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The event was very well attended in person and online. The debate was introduced by Dr. Ryan Katz-Rosene, associate professor of Political Science, and moderated by Dr. Patricia Fuller, University of Ottawa Senior Fellow and former Ambassador for Climate Change. A lively Q&A session followed. One attendee from the Ojibway Nation of Saugeen in Northern Ontario had a clear message for the audience: “Nuclear waste is not welcome up in northern Ontario, and should stay down south where it is made.”
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A Post-script from Dr. Edwards
"During the debate Chris Keefer said that the latest Lazard report shows that when storage is included renewables are almost as expensive as nuclear. This turns out to be untrue. The latest Lazard study includes solar with storage and also wind with storage. In both cases, the most expensive cost figure for renewables with storage is far less than the lowest cost figure for nuclear power, as you can see from Table 1 of the report." Gordon Edwards, Ph.D., President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility |
Meetings with MPs, April 25 to 27
From Tuesday to Thursday, reps in teams of two or three activists met with MPs from all the parties in their parliamentary offices. Our key points and asks were presented to each one, leaving time for discussion to understand the MPs' perspectives and requests for follow-up information. We learned a great deal from these engagements. One overall impression is that MPs are lacking key information about all things nuclear, and that for many, they have only heard about SMRs from the pro-nuclear lobby. Clearly there is lots more work to do! HERE is our key points and "asks" document.
Photo: Meeting on April 27 with Brian Masse, NDP MP for Windsor West (centre) are Bill Noll, Protect our Waterways (right), and Ole Hedrickson, Sierra Club Canada Foundation (left).
From Tuesday to Thursday, reps in teams of two or three activists met with MPs from all the parties in their parliamentary offices. Our key points and asks were presented to each one, leaving time for discussion to understand the MPs' perspectives and requests for follow-up information. We learned a great deal from these engagements. One overall impression is that MPs are lacking key information about all things nuclear, and that for many, they have only heard about SMRs from the pro-nuclear lobby. Clearly there is lots more work to do! HERE is our key points and "asks" document.
Photo: Meeting on April 27 with Brian Masse, NDP MP for Windsor West (centre) are Bill Noll, Protect our Waterways (right), and Ole Hedrickson, Sierra Club Canada Foundation (left).
Panel discussion, Thursday, April 27: Is New Nuclear a Smart Climate Solution?
We organized a panel hosted by the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Ottawa Quakers and held at the Quaker Meeting House, a community meeting place in the Glebe neighbourhood south of downtown Ottawa. Our panel featured Dr. Gordon Edwards, Dr. Dale Dewar, Candyce Paul (by zoom), and Angela Bischoff. The room was filled with local attendees and many more were online. Presentation notes: Angela Bischoff, Dale Dewar
Photo: Panel on April 27, right to left: Angela Bischoff, Dale Dewar, Gordon Edwards
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Final reflection
The week was brilliant for us activists in our quest to share info with MPs and the public that the nuclear lobby is not sharing about SMRs, nuclear waste, and plutonium reprocessing. We learned ways to engage MPs on these crucial issues. Our in-person and online public events succeeded to bring our information to a wider audience. The press conference and the media it generated was phenomenal. Given all the national media coverage to different audiences, we are confident that many Canadians learned important critical information about nuclear issues. We have many follow-up ideas suggested by MPs. Will we do another Not the Nuclear Lobby week? Watch this space!
The week was brilliant for us activists in our quest to share info with MPs and the public that the nuclear lobby is not sharing about SMRs, nuclear waste, and plutonium reprocessing. We learned ways to engage MPs on these crucial issues. Our in-person and online public events succeeded to bring our information to a wider audience. The press conference and the media it generated was phenomenal. Given all the national media coverage to different audiences, we are confident that many Canadians learned important critical information about nuclear issues. We have many follow-up ideas suggested by MPs. Will we do another Not the Nuclear Lobby week? Watch this space!
The Not-The-Nuclear-Lobby week was organized by groups including the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick, Northwatch, Ontario Clean Air Alliance, Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area , Interchurch-Uranium Educational Co-operative, Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan, Protect our Waterways - No Nuclear Waste, The Council of Canadians, Concerned Citizens of Manitoba and le Ralliement contre la pollution radioactive.
