Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 52, I call on the House to hold an emergency debate on the importing of mixed oxide fuel, MOx, containing military plutonium.
As members know, the government has unilaterally agreed to transport a small quantity of MOx from American and Russian nuclear arms for trials on its use as a fuel in Canadian nuclear reactors. The government will thus act contrary to a unanimous recommendation by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, which rejected the idea of importing MOx.
Right from the start, the Bloc Quebecois opposed the idea of importing plutonium and asked the ministers of foreign affairs and natural resources to drop the idea.
The ever thorny issue of residual waste management, the lack of cost effectiveness, the clear opposition by a growing number of citizens, resolutions by a number of municipalities preventing the passage of such a convoy through their territory and the risk of terrorism involved in the movement of this substance seriously reduce the credibility of the importation proposal.
For all these reasons and because the MOx could be transported as early as November 15, with the Russians' share potentially having already left the port of St. Petersburg, we think an emergency debate is necessary.
The government must justify its decision, which runs totally contrary to what the people want and what was recommended by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, and allow parliamentarians to debate this question of importing plutonium, even before trials are permitted on Canadian soil.
Accordingly, I ask you to consider my request for an emergency debate favourably.