He is of course talking about the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the body, which reports to parliament, that is charged with safeguarding Canadians on nuclear safety.
The issue at hand is that the CNSC refused to allow a 50 year old reactor at Chalk River to be brought back on line until it was upgraded to protect a
gainst accident or terrorism.OK, let me get this straight. The Minster is saying that the Commission's refusal to be bullied into backing down on a safety issue undermines the confidence in the nuclear industry in Canada?
I would suggest that the actions of Canada's Greatest Government (TM: PM Harper) is what will cause Canadians to scratch their heads. If AECL had done the upgrades that had been recommended to them for a number of years before the incident and if Health Canada had a back up plan to protect the profits of MDS Nordion, the only client for the isotopes produced by the deficient reactor, then none of this would have happened.
Lunn is calling for the dismisal of Linda Keen, the President of the CNSC since 2001. Since all we know of her is that she is a liberal hack, according to PM Harper, I thought that it would worthwhile to check out her resume. The following is from the CNSC web site:
Linda J. Keen is an Albertan. She received her B.Sc. (honours in chemistry) and M.Sc. (agriculture sciences) from the University of Alberta. After working as a chemist, she continued her career in three science-related fields: agriculture and agri-food, mining and currently, in the nuclear area. As a certified agrologist, Ms. Keen has worked in the private sector, for the International Development Research Centre in West Africa, for the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia and for a British Columbia crown corporation, Expo ’86. Her agriculture work has encompassed a variety of roles including scientific research, trade policy and international marketing, culminating as the director general of strategic planning and coordination for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. After a period of time at Industry Canada where she spearheaded its approach to Team Canada and developed the Export Source Web interface, Ms. Keen was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Minerals and Metals at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). In addition to heading the development of the Mining Sustainable Development Policy and the world-renowned CANMET laboratories, she led NRCan’s approaches to international affairs, policy and regulatory development. She was also responsible for the regulation of explosives in Canada and participated in the dual Task Forces on Risk Management and Risk Communications.
Ms. Keen was Chair of the International Nuclear Regulators Association in 2003. She was the first Canadian President of the Convention on Nuclear Safety from 2004 to 2007, which involved international peer review among its 65 signatory countries to ensure worldwide nuclear safety. Ms. Keen was also the Honorary Chair of the 2006 Women in Nuclear Conference, held in Canada for the first time, and the keynote speaker of the 2005 International Conference of Women in Science and Engineering, held in Seoul, South Korea. She speaks regularly in Canada and internationally on matters of regulatory excellence and efficiency.
Let's compare that the Gary Lunn's resume, according to the Natural Resources web site:The Natural Resources portfolio is well suited to Minister Lunn because his early working days were spent in the mining and forestry industries in British Columbia and northern Canada. This experience has allowed him to understand first-hand the importance of Canada’s natural resources to our present and future prosperity. A certified journeyman carpenter, Minister Lunn has designed and built numerous homes, including his family’s current home in Sidney, British Columbia.
I don't know. It is too close to call, who's resume is better.
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