Last weekend, I had the great pleasure of attending an important event against the nuclear waste dump proposed at Chalk River, 1.1 km from the Ottawa River. This event was hosted by École d’été citoyenne and included a panel discussion with Justin Roy (Councilor at Kebaowek First Nation), Ole Hendrickson (Concerned Citizens), and and Chantal Pelletier (Mères au front – région de l’Outaouais and Decolonial Solidarity Ottawa-Gatineau).
As you may know, my Upstanders and I have created a presentation about this proposed nuclear waste dump – with 10 reasons why it is a terrible idea. And we have a paper petition to the House of Commons for people to sign to stand in solidarity with Kebaowek First Nation against it. This petition is sponsored by Leah Gazan.
Our goal is to get as many students across Canada as possible to do this presentation to their classes and then invite their classmates to sign the petition. They can then mail this package of signatures into Leah and she can read it in the House of Commons and mention the school that the children are from – giving these students the strong message that they have a voice, that they are powerful.
Chantal offered to take all this and translate it into French for us – so that it can also be used in classes across Quebec, and in French immersion classes across Canada! And if you look at this last photo – Chantal mentions our work as one of the actions you can take to fight this nuclear waste dump. She is so awesome.
And this whole package of the presentation and petition is not just for children – it can be taken on by any group – we have had the Raging Grannies send in a petition to Leah!
Please reach out if you want to receive this free resource and join us in the fight to protect the water.