Flin Flon city council won’t attempt to censor nuclear-waste opponents who use the radiation symbol on their signage, arguing it is a legitimate form of protest.
Unlike their counterparts in Creighton, council will not act on a request to remove from public property signs that feature the symbol, known as the trefoil.
“If we start censoring every little thing that comes along, I think we’re taking a position, and I don’t wish to take a position in an educational [process],” said Mayor George Fontaine.
Fontaine said he personally views the signs as a way of encouraging the public to think about nuclear waste storage.
“I believe we should think about it, and think about the positives and the negatives if there are any of either side,” he said. “And what I’ve said right from the beginning is, rather than ask [council] to make a decision for [the public], I think that we’re hoping and we’re believing that our constituents are intelligent people who make decisions on their own, and so they should be able to hear those pluses and they should be able to hear what some people consider to be minuses, and make up their own mind.”
Displays welcome
In that vein, Fontaine said council will also accommodate nuclear-waste opponents who wish to place informational displays at city hall.
But “it has to be tasteful, it has to be educational, it can’t just be some big sign that says ‘no nukes here,’ that kind of thing,” added the mayor.
Council has already allow the Nuclear Waste Management Organiza-tion (NWMO), mandated to find a place to store Canada’s radioactive waste, to erect a display at city hall.
Coun. Bill Hanson said an anti-waste display would have to present trustworthy information.
“I don’t want to hear a psychologist’s view on nuclear waste, do you know what I’m saying?” said Hanson. “If you have contrary information of what they [NWMO] are saying there, and it’s credible, great, I’d love to read that.”
Asked who decides what constitutes “credible” information, Fontaine said the city would by taking “a reasonable approach” to the nuclear-waste debate.
NWMO is currently educating the public on the long-term possibility of storing radioactive waste in an underground repository near Creighton.
Surrounding communities, including Flin Flon, have been involved with the process and would have to be on board with the concept if Creighton is ever chosen.
Over the summer, Creighton town council directed its public works department to remove publicly displayed signs that bear the trefoil.
Urging
The move came at the urging of the Community Liaison Committee (CLC), which forms a bridge between the public and NWMO.
In a letter, CLC co-chairs George Trevor and Rod Gourlay pointed out that the trefoil is used to designate the presence of hazardous radioactive materials.
The men wrote that while the CLC supports freedom of speech, there is apprehension that the public is “misinformed” by trefoil-bearing protest signs.
Canada’s nuclear waste regulator says use of the trefoil in the absence of any radiation can be against the law, but only in certain, debatable circumstances.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) says the trefoil is covered by Section 23 of its regulations. In order for Section 23 to apply, there must be a “reasonable belief” that radiation, a nuclear substance or prescribed equipment is actually present.
“…if this is simply a statement being made and by seeing the sign people do not believe that there is the presence of radiation, nuclear substance or prescribed equipment in the place where the sign is located, then Section 23 does not apply,” said the CNSC in a statement to The Reminder.
As far as placing an anti-waste display at the Town of Creighton office, any interested groups or individuals are able to approach town council for permission.
