Ryerson University’s contentious funding agreement with Toronto-based Nuclear Waste Management Organization should be reviewed by the public at large, said the Canadian Association of University Teachers.

CAUT policy recommends that donations such as every NWMO donation to Ryerson for the university’s new “indigenous governance” program undergo review simultaneously at two levels:

Level one:  Ryerson’s senior academic body; and
Level two:  The public at large.

CAUT’s November 2008 statement on corporate donations to universities insists:

“There must be no compromise on the academic institution’s autonomy. The donation of money should be untied, so that there is no connection to or involvement with the academic policy of the institution . . . In consideration of the public nature of the academic institution there should be a donor agreement between the institution and the benefactor with full disclosure to all members of the institution and to the public at large . . . The donor agreement should provide appropriate provisions for review . . . As part of the academic institution’s governance structure there should be an elected naming committee whose members are representative of the senior academic body of the institution. Clear guidelines for benefactors should be established and made available to the public at large.”

CAUT executive director Jim Turk recently told The ACTivist magazine that this paragraph applies to Ryerson University’s funding agreement with corporations such as the Nuclear Waste Management Organization.

NUCLEAR WASTE MO DONATES $105,000

NWMO comprises electro-nuclear utilities in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. In its December 2009 News magazine, NWMO portrayed New Brunswick-origin legal scholar Pamela Palmater as: “the Chair of Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University,” enthusing that “In 2009, the NWMO pledged to donate $105,000 over three years in support of the Chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University. This is a unique and historic initiative which will considerably impact on capacity building and help strengthen governance in Aboriginal communities across Canada.”

Toronto-based Ryerson University, in a 31 March 2010 communiqué, disclosed that:

“Pamela Palmater, a Mi’kmaq lawyer and professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration was announced as the interim chair for the newly launched Centre in Indigenous Governance . . . Ryerson University has launched the Centre in Indigenous Governance to build capacity for Aboriginal governance, support research in governance issues and enhance educational opportunities for Aboriginal students . . . The Centre in Indigenous Governance would not be possible without the exceptional support of Hydro One, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization and Vale Inco.”

Ryerson’ s biography of Professor Palmater noted that her former “position as a lawyer at Justice Canada involved various legal matters pertaining to First Nations. She has also held several positions as Director at Indian and Northern Affairs, managing treaties, claims, self-government, land and registration portfolios.”

Salaff explained NWMO’s historic focus on indigenous lands in Seven Oaks, 27 October 2005.

NWMO’s chronic difficulties winning an audience with Aboriginal peoples clash with the intent of the 2002 Nuclear Fuel Waste Act, which created NWMO.

In particular, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami has declared its complete opposition to the storage/disposal and transportation of nuclear fuel waste in the Canadian Arctic [including] marine areas and airspace; The Canadian Nuclear Society observed over a decade ago that “the likely disposal sites for this waste “are expected to lie within lands occupied by Aboriginal communities.”

In its current Overview of Canada’s Plan for the Long-Term Management of Used Nuclear Fuel, which reached us in late June 2010, NWMO explains that its site selection process will “brief the Government of Canada, national and provincial Aboriginal organizations, and regulatory agencies,” leading to recruitment of communities willing to host deep underground geological repositories for nuclear fuel waste in suitable rock formations.

NWMO priorities include “availability of routes (road, rail, water) and associated infrastructure to transport used fuel from existing storage facilities to the repository site.”

NWMO advertises: “This multi-billion-dollar project will generate thousands of jobs in a host region and hundreds of jobs in a host community for many decades.”

Notably, “the siting process will respect Aboriginal rights and treaties and will take into account unresolved claims between Aboriginal people and the Crown.”

The siting process will allegedly be implemented in a way that fosters “the long-term well-being and quality of life of the community or region in which it is being implemented.”

NWMO devotes itself staunchly to the long-term welfare of nuclear fuel waste host communities, and in the case of indigenous community hosts, NWMO commits on numerous planes to their strengthened governance.