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OTTAWA — Linda Keen has been let go as the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission amid controversy involving the shutdown of AECL’s isotope-producing nuclear reactor last year.
Commission spokesman Aurele Gervais said Ms. Keen learned last night in a letter that cabinet had relieved her of her duties as president, but that she would remain a full-time member of the commission. He said that Ms. Keen intended to attend a meeting of the commission Wednesday.
Assistant deputy industry minister Michael Binder has been named as her as interim replacement.
An individual identifying himself as Ms. Keen’s husband confirmed Tuesday night that Ms. Keen learned at 10 p.m. that her services were no longer required. The move followed a letter from Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn recently in which he questioned Ms. Keen’s judgment.
Ms. Keen did not wish to comment.
“These events cast doubt on whether you possess the fundamental good judgment required by the incumbent of the office of president of the commission,” wrote Mr. Lunn in his letter to Ms. Keen at the time.
“These doubts have led me to question whether you should continue to serve as president of the commission. I am considering making a recommendation to the Governor in Council [Cabinet] that your designation as president of the commission be terminated.”
In astatement issued by Mr. Lunn’s office Wednesday, the government said the extended shutdown of the reactor “was threatening to cause a national and international health crisis.
“The president was aware of the importance of maintaining Canada’s and the world’s supply of medical isotopes,” the statement said. “However, given the growing crisis, she did not demonstrate the leadership expected of the president under the existing legislative provisions of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act to put the Commission in a position to address the situation in a timely fashion.”
The Commons Natural Resources committee held a special meeting Tuesday to call both Mr. Lunn and Ms. Keen to testify.
If Mr. Lunn appears — his spokeswoman has said he is willing — it will be the first time he has spoken publicly about the issue since early December.
MPs from all parties agreed yesterday that it was time the dispute received a hearing.
“Clearly, the government was faced with a crisis,” said David Anderson, a Conservative MP who is parliamentary secretary for Natural Resources.
“The minister did a great job handling that issue and he will have a forum [Wednesday] to explain that, and we think Canadians, when they hear the explanation, will be very happy with it.”
The reactor was put back in service without the approval of Ms. Keen after emergency legislation ordering a restart was passed with the co-operation of all political parties.
But Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who in early debates about the reactor’s closing accused the CNSC president of being a Liberal partisan, continued his attack last week, saying she jeopardized the health of Canadians through her refusal to give the unit a green light to operate.
And Mr. Lunn wrote in a letter to Ms. Keen late last month that he was preparing to recommend to cabinet that her presidency be terminated. She fought back with allegations that he had improperly interfered with the independence of her commission.
Although the Conservatives did not object Tuesday to having Mr. Lunn appear before the committee, they argued that he should be called back after Ms. Keen’s testimony so he has an opportunity to rebut what she says. That suggestion was rejected by opposition MPs, who said they will call the minister back if they believe he has something to add.
But they are clearly eager to hear from him in the first instance.
Omar Alghabra, the Liberal Natural Resources critic, said Mr. Lunn must answer a number of questions.
“We want to understand what the minister knew and what he did,” Mr. Alghabra said. “We also want to understand about this tension between him and the commissioner, why he felt he needed to threaten to fire her, what evidence does he have, who he consulted with before writing that letter, is it acceptable [and] did he cross the line?”
Catherine Bell, the NDP Natural Resources critic, moved that an investigation be conducted into Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the Crown corporation that owns the reactor, and current and previous governments. That motion will be considered after the committee has dealt with the events that occurred at Chalk River.
She also moved that the nuclear safety commission, the government and the AECL provide a wide range of documents related to the Chalk River reactor, including Auditor-General’s reports on AECL from 2002 and 1996 that have never been made public. That motion was also put off.
With files from The Canadian Press
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