August 17, 2017
Ottawa
On stage at AMO: Bob Watts, VP of Indigenous Relations (left), and Jo-Ann Facella, Director of Community Well-being, Assessment and Dialogue (middle), discuss the NWMO’s approach to relationship building. Norm Sandberg, Relationship Manager from North of Huron (right), facilitates the discussion.
NWMO staff joined municipal leaders from around Ontario at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, August 15. The AMO conference is the largest annual gathering of municipal officials in Ontario. It provides a chance for municipal leaders to liaise with counterparts from across the province and participate in learning opportunities.
The NWMO hosted an AMO Insight Breakfast, featuring a conversation between NWMO leaders Bob Watts, VP of Indigenous Relations, and Jo-Ann Facella, Director of Community Well-being, Assessment and Dialogue.
This well-attended breakfast session brought together municipal leaders and administrators, industry leaders, and provincial government officials to hear about the NWMO's approach to relationship building while working to site a deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel.
Particular attention was paid to the work that the NWMO has done to help foster partnerships in the areas considering hosting the project, including experiences working with municipal, and First Nation and Métis communities.
"The AMO Insight Breakfast provided the NWMO with an important forum to share some of our experiences as an organization," said Mr. Watts. "We have seen first-hand that through hard work and respectful dialogue, municipalities, First Nation and Métis communities can work toward partnership."
About the NWMO
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is a not-for-profit organization tasked with the safe, long-term management of Canada’s used nuclear fuel inside a deep geological repository, in a manner that protects people and the environment for generations to come.
Founded in 2002, the NWMO has been guided for more than 20 years by a dedicated team of world-class scientists, engineers and Indigenous Knowledge Holders that are developing innovative and collaborative solutions for nuclear waste management. Canada’s plan will only proceed in an area with informed and willing hosts, where the municipality, First Nation and Métis communities, and others in the area are working together to implement it. The NWMO plans to select a site in 2024, and two areas remain in our site selection process: the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area in northwestern Ontario and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area in southern Ontario.
