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PM says he’s troubled that regulator believes ‘jeopardizing the health of Canadians … was a wise course of action’
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he “absolutely” stands behind Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn, whose firing has been demanded by opposition Liberals, and hinted that he would support the ouster of Linda Keen, the nuclear watchdog.
Mr. Harper praised Mr. Lunn yesterday for acting “beyond the call of duty” last month when he overrode the Nuclear Safety Commission, headed by Ms. Keen, with legislation that reopened the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. nuclear reactor in Chalk River to resume production of medical isotopes used for cancer and other medical treatment.
A worldwide isotope shortage occurred during the shutdown, first for routine maintenance and then extended to comply with backup safety requirements for licensing by the safety commission.
In a strong hint that he supports Mr. Lunn’s threat to ask the federal cabinet to fire Ms. Keen as head of the commission, Mr. Harper told reporters in New Brunswick that he is “very, very troubled” that Ms. Keen is still questioning the government’s action and defending her stance. She and Mr. Lunn have been fighting over her job in a public exchange of letters.
“Frankly, it troubles me greatly if the regulator still believes jeopardizing the health of Canadians needlessly was a wise course of action,” Mr. Harper said in a CTV interview during a visit to New Brunswick. “I am very, very troubled by that.”
Mr. Harper also dismissed as old hat the revelations contained in a report by the auditor general on a special examination of AECL. The report was not released by AECL until Wednesday, months after it was submitted to AECL and to Mr. Lunn.
“The minister and the government are well aware, long before the auditor general’s report, of the problems of AECL,” Mr. Harper said. He said there are no short-term solutions, but the government had taken financial and management steps to stabilize the situation. He noted the government had ordered a review of AECL months ago.
Mr. Harper’s contention that Mr. Lunn acted beyond the call of duty was termed “ludicrous” by Omar Alghabra, Liberal natural resources critic.
“For the prime minister to praise a minister who should be fired—while still continuing to scapegoat the nuclear regulator—is beyond the pale,” he said in a prepared statement. “It’s Minister Lunn’s inaction that led to the isotope crisis.”
Earlier, Mr. Alghabra said in an interview that the official Opposition wants to put Mr. Lunn on the hot seat next week to account for instances in which he could have informed MPs or in which he misled MPs about the situation at AECL.
“AECL’s shareholders are Canadians and the minister represents the shareholders,” he said. “He’s supposed to be the overseer. I feel he is negligent in his responsibility, in fulfilling his duty toward Canadians in ensuring AECL is managed well.”
Liberal MPs have put in motion a process aimed at summoning Mr. Lunn to an “emergency meeting” of the Commons natural resources committee next week before the parliamentary session resumes Jan. 28. When the committee clerk receives four signatures from MPs, the committee must hold a meeting within five days.
“Not only do we owe this to the public, but I think we owe it to the wealth of talent that we have working at AECL …,” Mr. Alghabra said.
The “most blatant and earliest” case the MPs will question is the most recent revelation. The auditor general’s office said yesterday it relayed to Mr. Lunn on Sept. 25 a report on AECL that found “a significant deficiency” at the Crown corporation during a special examination. The report was not released to the public by AECL until this week—more than four months later—after the Liberals discovered its existence by asking the auditor general for a review.
Mr. Alghabra said Mr. Lunn never took any of several opportunities to mention the auditor’s report to MPs, even as he quietly announced a review of AECL in a one-line announcement at the bottom of a press release last fall or when he was questioned Nov. 22 about a $70-million allocation in supplementary estimates to AECL at a Commons committee hearing.
It was also on Nov. 22 that Michael Burns, then head of AECL, says he briefed Mr. Lunn on the shutdown, and gave regular updates. This conflicts with Mr. Lunn’s account to the Commons that he became aware of the shutdown Dec. 3. Mr. Burns, who quit AECL last month, has also said he warned the government last summer that the supply of isotopes would be in jeopardy if changes were not made in the “dysfunctional relationship” between AECL and the safety commission.
“When we debated this in the House, we had none of this information,” Mr. Alghabra said. “We took the minister at his word that he only knew on Dec. 3. We didn’t know about the tension between AECL and the commission. We didn’t have the auditor general’s report. We didn’t know about Burns. That information was not available to us. And ever since this information has started trickling down, the minister has been hiding.
“It started off with incompetence and it’s escalated so much that they have to cover up for their incompetence,” he added. “They thought ‘OK let’s take out the commissioner and blame her and let’s pretend that we got the job done’.”
The NDP called for a thorough investigation into the actions and communications between AECL and the department over the past decade.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008