Anishinabek Nation statement on Canada Day
ANISHINABEK NATION TERRITORY (July 1, 2026) – The Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief shares a statement as the Nation prepares to celebrate Canada Day.
“We wish you a Happy Canada Day! We celebrate the diversity, cultures, and contributions of this Nation with pride and encourage others to join in celebration. However, we also encourage citizens of this Nation to take the time to understand that this land you have come to know as Canada has a colourful past with a legacy that continues to negatively affect the Original People of this land. While some parts of the country are celebrating, First Nations people are contemplating the Government of Canada’s plans for a toxic nuclear waste dump in a small town in Northwestern Ontario within the Treaty 3 territory.
The Anishinabek Nation stands united in unequivocal opposition to the transportation of nuclear waste through the entire Anishinabek Nation territory from southern Ontario to the proposed burial of nuclear waste in the Township of Ignace, Ontario, and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation. While Prime Minister Carney claims, ‘We are defending and building together, the true North, strong and free’, there is a stark contrast between words and actions, and rightsholders and citizens of this land are taking note. Instead of protecting our homeland, the plan is to pollute it with toxic nuclear waste, far from the populations that utilize and benefit from nuclear energy produced in the south.
The claim of ‘building together’ appears to be a euphemism for transporting hazardous materials throughout and into remote, northern regions, buried in a Deep Geologic Repository (DGR), where First Nations are located and where treaty rights are being routinely dismissed and ignored. The plan to transport and bury nuclear waste in Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, an area far removed from the urban centers and the communities that consume most of the energy, demonstrates a troubling disregard for safety and environmental justice, including the First Nations on the transportation route, and perpetuates the perception that First Nations people are second-class citizens.
Imagine for a moment that the federal and provincial governments proposed nuclear waste in a DGR in Southern Ontario, the most densely populated heart of the country. Would you be so eager to impose such a dangerous burden on those communities that have no choice but to live with the risk? Would there be silence or dismissiveness? Or would Canadians stand up and demand meaningful engagement, transparency, and respect for their health and environment?
While Canadians do use nuclear energy across the country, the primary users are in southern and southwestern Ontario, thus generating most of the nuclear waste, yet it is planned to be transported through Northern Ontario and buried in a small town in Northwestern Ontario for long-term storage. If the ‘true North’ is to be truly strong and free, it must be free from the burden of toxic waste that threatens our land, water, and mino bimaadiziwin (the good life).
As stated in Article 29 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, “States shall take effective measures to ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories of Indigenous Peoples without their free, prior and informed consent,” and we do not consent to the transportation of this nuclear waste in our territory and member First Nations.
We call on the federal government to reconsider its pursuit of a dangerous, toxic nuclear waste dump that threatens our future generations, and to cease these reckless plans immediately. We ask that you respect the treaty relationship, our inherent rights, and our sovereignty. Listen to our voices and prioritize safe and environmentally sound solutions that do not put any communities or the environment at risk. It is painfully clear that the transportation and disposal of hazardous nuclear waste bring risks, uncertainty, and consequences for all.
Sincerely,
Linda Debassige
E’ntami-niigaanzid Gimaa (Grand Council Chief)
Anishinabek Nation.