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From The Montreal Gazette
Quebec's Liberal government must stop uranium exploration near Sept Iles and declare a moratorium on uranium mining activities across the province to avoid the mass resignation of 20 doctors in the Lower North Shore town, a Sept Iles doctor said yesterday.
"I want to work in a place where the government listens to citizens and where medical opinions are respected," said Bruno Imbeault, one of 20 doctors at the the Centre hospitalier et des services sociaux de Sept Iles who signed an open letter to Health Minister Yves Bolduc pledging to resign unless uranium exploration activities in the area are stopped. The hospital employs 60 physicians.
The doctors oppose a proposed uranium mine at Kachiwiss Lake, about 13 kilometres from Sept Iles, because they believe it will harm the environment and the health of area residents.
Imbeault said the impact on health care in the region if one-third of the doctors leave would be "catastrophic," but the doctors believe they must exit and warn other residents.
"Fearing for the health of the public and our own personal health as well as that of our families (particularly our children), we, the signatories, have decided to leave the region and, many of us, the province," said the letter, sent to Bolduc on Thursday.
The doctors are concerned about radon and other so-called "decay products" of uranium, which can contaminate air and water around a mine and cause lung cancer in humans.
On Wednesday, the Liberal government tabled a new law on mining that did not mention uranium mining, despite calls for a moratorium from the city council of Sept Iles, the Innus of Uashat-Maliotenam, dozens of environmental and social groups, the Parti Quebecois, Quebec solidaire and several members of the Bloc Quebecois.
In the National Assembly yesterday, Serge Simard, junior natural resources minister responsible for mining, noted that no uranium mining is being done yet, although the government has authorized access routes to the mine site.
"If the population of Sept Iles doesn't want this project, the government of Quebec will respect their wishes," Simard said.
mlalonde@ thegazette.canwest.com
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