Original post via Walkerton News.

Letter to the Editor:

DGR shutdown is our loss

It is a very sad day for our community, our province and our country. Once again, fear and ignorance have trumped scientific innovation and vision, shutting down an enviable ground-breaking project, one certified as viable and worthy by more than fifteen years of intensive research by field experts.

This DGR would have secured our low and intermediate level radioactive waste for millennia. This should have been an essential national venture, supported by governments at all levels. Yet, rather than stand proudly behind such a bold feat of engineering, successive governments have bounced this political football back and forth by continually requiring further studies. Political agendas, pandering to populist propaganda, dealt the final blow by failing to lead with foresight, courage or decisiveness. Some would argue with me, but in my eyes, we have shirked our duty and passed the buck to future generations. Our grandchildren will look back and rue this day. Be assured that DGRs will be, and are currently being built elsewhere; but we have decided that it won’t happen here.

Canada boasts a wealth of talent, so why is it so hard to move forward here? Why must cutting edge design, technology and industry fight every step of the way to gain a foothold here? Why must Canadian advances and breakthroughs succumb to the whims of the uninformed, or to the never ending deferrals of the government of the day?

We have just shown the world, again, that though we have the best and the brightest willing to lead and invest in our future, we are forcing them to step back, leaving it to others to build on their hard won research.

Some of you may remember the Avro Arrow. Politics quashed that extraordinary aeronautical gem. Americans seized upon that pioneering technology and engineering design to build their F4 fighter jets, claiming the glory that should have been Canadian. Regrettably, this is a repeat performance.

Marcella Bézaire