RESOLUTION: Renewable Energy Study - Prince Albert

[Oscar]

THE COUNCIL OF CANADIANS - PRINCE ALBERT CHAPTER
RENEWABLE ENERGY STUDY – RESOLUTION

Presented to Prince Albert City Council on September 21, 2009 by Rick Sawa, Chair of the Prince Albert Chapter of the Council of Canadians.

BACKGROUND:

In October of 2008, the Government of Saskatchewan created (quoting from the report) an expert panel – the Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) to identify, evaluate, and make recommendations on Saskatchewan-based value added opportunities to further develop our uranium industry.

The Council of Canadians have several objections to the UDP, some of which are the following:

1. The UDP is about propping up the uranium industry—a uranium business plan, not about energy options for Saskatchewan.

2. All of the members of the UDP were public proponents of, or represent organizations that are public proponents of, the nuclear industry.

It insults the intelligence of the residents of Saskatchewan to call the UDP (quoting from the report) a broad cross – section of Saskatchewan stakeholders, as well as representatives of the uranium and nuclear industries. Young people, women and Aboriginal people make up a significant portion of Saskatchewan’s population. However the panel consists of middle aged men, one of whom was a First Nations man - a known proponent of the nuclear industry. An IBEW union member was on the panel—the union that came out in support of the report. Is not Dr. Florizone in a “conflict of interest” situation as he is the Vice-President of Finance and Resources at the U of S whose university will directly benefit from the proposed nuclear industry subsidy in the form of taxpayer dollars for Research, Development, and Training. Several environmental groups exist in Saskatchewan. However, the government of Saskatchewan brought in a known proponent of the nuclear industry from outside the province to sit as the so-called environmentalist on the panel. Where is the health professional on the panel?

We find it deceiving that the dollar figures are always available to broadcast possible financial gains to the province, but NOWHERE do we see any sign of what it will cost the Saskatchewan taxpayer. Why is one side of the financial picture being completely hidden from the public, especially when that side is precisely the financial cost estimate for each of us, as taxpayers?

According to the Perrins Report (and I quote): “Most of those commenting felt (the public consultation process) was not adequate, was too short, did not provide enough time to prepare; it did not provide government with a strong enough mandate to make a decision about uranium development, it did not have enough people participating in the process; more consultation was needed; and the focus of the consultation—the UDP Report—was not the correct one”. (according to Perrins Report 88% of people who participated disagreed with the UDP process).

Because of growing public pressure to democratize energy policy, the Saskatchewan Party government created the public consultation process, but it was so restrictive that a widespread call for non-nuclear options could be ignored. However, to quote from the Perrins Report: “the overwhelming response to this public consultation was that nuclear power generation should not be a choice for Saskatchewan…” To quote further: “The vast majority of responses dealing with alternative energies—particularly around renewable energy sources—supported Saskatchewan moving towards a greater focus on alternative energy sources” and “a large proportion of people wanted Saskatchewan to go ahead with a study on renewable sources of energy funded to the same level as the UDP Report”. (according to Perrins Report 98% of participants voiced support for focusing on alternative energies and 95% stated that the focus should be on energy efficiency and conservation because, I quote: “energy efficiency was thought to be good economically for individual households, less expensive for government, and good for the environment”)

This is why The Council of Canadians is requesting that the Prince Albert Municipal Council pass the following Resolution calling on the provincial government to conduct an in-depth, independent study of the energy needs of our province and to determine how these needs can best be met before a final decision is made. (Again quoting from Perrins: “People told me that there is a need for information from independent experts who do not have a stake in nuclear power or uranium” (Before I read the proposed Resolution, let me remind Council that 10 years ago the Prince Albert City Council of the day was the first municipal government of over 70 across Canada to pass a resolution requesting the federal government to refuse to participate in any WTO negotiations that include health care, education, social services and government procurement).

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THE COUNCIL OF CANADIANS - PRINCE ALBERT CHAPTER

RENEWABLE ENERGY STUDY – RESOLUTION

Whereas the Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) is about propping up the uranium industry and not about determining energy options for Saskatchewan;

Whereas all the members of the UDP are public proponents, or represent organizations that are public proponents, of the nuclear industry;

Whereas nuclear energy development is costly;

Whereas nuclear waste storage remains a serious unsolved problem;

Whereas the nine day public consultations proposed by the provincial government are insufficient to determine the energy needs of the province and how these needs can best be met in a safe, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective manner;

Thereby be it resolved that the Municipal Council of Prince Albert immediately request that the Provincial Government conduct a study on the energy needs of the province and determine what part renewable energy options can play in meeting these needs; and

Be it further resolved that the Municipal Council of Prince Albert forward a copy of this resolution to the other Saskatchewan municipalities, and request that these governments, in turn, forward their concerns to the Provincial Government.

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Mr. Sawa was told that Prince Albert City Council will deal with the resolution at their next meeting and that the results would be made public.