A vice-chief with the Prince Albert Grand Council didn’t mince words when addressing the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission yesterday.
The commission was in Saskatoon to hear from residents in the province’s far north about an application from Cameco to renew its licence at Cigar Lake.
Smy Tsannie told the commissioners to imagine how they would feel if he walked into their backyard and set up a swimming pool without permission:
“This is our home. This is what we depend on. Long after your uranium mining is gone, we’re still going to be there. It’s about building that partnership and relationship with the most impacted communities in the north. That’s our home. We can’t be taking, we can’t be stealing. That’s what it is. We never gave up our right.”
The vice-chief also said he thinks the band should be the one to hand out licences within its traditional territory.
Meanwhile, a trapper from Hatchet Lake says he misses the peace and quiet of the bush.
Emil Hansen says he has trouble with the fact that Cameco wants a 10-year licence.
He says trappers only get a two-year licence, during which time they have to show people that they’re using it.
At the same time, Hansen says development in the region is making it harder for trappers to make a living:
“Today, they can’t even trap because there’s diamond drillers going all over, roads being built through the bush, bulldozing our trap lines so that they can build a road to take their drills in there.”
Hansen says many elders are worried.