After 30 years of consultation, 2024 will see the choice for the location of the Deep Geological Repository, a location for the disposal of Canada’s spent nuclear fuel. The current choice for location will fall in either MNO region 1, Ignace, or region 7, South Bruce. The project will take place over multiple generations, and with the duty to consult, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization has been holding multiple community engagement session for MNO citizens in region 7 to learn about nuclear fuel and the DGR project.

Last Summer, the NWMO held an community engagement session in Blue Mountain and in November, members of the Georgian Bay Traditional Territory Consultation Committee took a trip to Finland to learn about the DGR located there, which will be similar to the proposed project here in Canada. The goal of the DGR is to move Canada’s current nuclear waste from above ground warehouses to a location deep in the Earth, where it can be safely stored and retrieved should there be a use for the fuel at a further date.

James Wagner, Metis citizen and NWMO’s Indigenous Relations advisor, has made it clear that it is important for the Metis community to get involved in the decision for the DGR's location and have their voices heard. The NWMO is committed to continuing to hold engagement sessions with Metis citizens so they can have their questions and concerns about the proposed project heard.

At a recent engagement session in Alcona, which was about the GBTTC’s recent trip to Finland, talk quickly turned from the trip itself to how the NWMO will engage the youth who will be the ones impacted the most by the decision of where the DGR will be hosted. Both PCMNO Youth Council President, Jordyn Playne, and MNO Vice Chair, Sharon Cadeau, were in attendance. They raised questions about how the NWMO plans to continue to engage with citizens as the project continues from one generation to the next. James Wagner explained that there will be a hybrid event held for MNO youth to engage with the NWMO and the project on March 17.

If you are interested in learning more about future NWMO engagement sessions and how you can learn more about the DGR, please contact NWMO consultation advisor for Region 7, Tayler Manser, at TaylorM@metisnation.org.

The next engagement session will be held in June 2024. Citizens are encouraged to contact Taylor with any suggestions of topics they would like covered at the upcoming event.