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Uranium exploration and mining in Nova Scotia – the radioactive issue that Houston’s government reactivated
The uranium inquiry
Smyth’s libel case was still dragging on well after the government of Progressive Conservative (PC) Premier John Buchanan had placed a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining in 1981, and even after Buchanan announced the Commission of Inquiry on Uranium under Judge Robert McCleave in 1982.
McCleave’s 345-page report, finalized in January 1985, upheld the moratorium.
McCleave’s inquiry was intensive and comprehensive. It involved 44 public meetings held throughout Nova Scotia in 1982. Oddly, Kidd Creek Mines, which had been exploring for uranium near Millet Brook close to Vaughan on Highway 14, did not participate in the full inquiry “because of general economic conditions.”
Of the 244 briefs and presentations to the McCleave Inquiry, Thomas said that “211 were opposed to uranium mining, 32 were either from mining interests supporting mining or from regulatory agencies outlining their role,” and, “Only one brief from a private citizen spoke in support of [uranium] mining.”
Although subsequent provincial governments renewed the moratorium, it wasn’t until 2009 under the New Democratic Party (NDP) government of Darrell Dexter that legislation cemented the ban in place. The purpose of the Uranium Exploration and Mining Prohibition Act was “to protect the health and safety of Nova Scotians and the quality of their environment.” It was given royal assent in November 2009.
Then with no warning, 16 years later, on Jan. 21, 2025, Premier Tim Houston wrote to his caucus decrying the bans on uranium mining and fracking for onshore fossil gas. He denigrated bans on entire sectors as “lazy policies” and blamed them on “special interest groups.” Houston had made absolutely no mention of these issues during his 2024 election campaign. |Read more|