Decision made by the Commons: Chalk River "open for the public"

The Commons have decided last night to restart Ontario's Chalk River nuclear reactor and resume the production of medical radioisotopes.

Health Minister Tony Clement said this decision balances safety issues at the plant with the urgent need for the product.

The government introduced emergency legislation last night that will compel the plant to restart operations immediately, at least for 120 days.

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. shut down the plant for scheduled maintenance last November. The closure was then extended when serious safety concerns were discovered by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the federal watchdog for the industry.

Last night's bill allows the plant to restart, but suspends the CNSC's oversight of the Chalk River facility.

"A reasonable decision," according to Clement.

The commission made its decisions based on concerns from scientists and engineers over the system used to cool the reactors, and the possibility of a meltdown in an emergency situation.

But Clement said the government's priority is providing the isotopes to patients who need them.

"In terms of balancing that risk with the risk of cancer patients and heart patients who will not be able to get diagnosis or not be able to get therapy, I think the House of Commons made the right decision and approved the startup of the reactor," Clement told CTV's Canada AM today. (click to see video)

He said the government expects the plant to once again be producing usable isotopes within six to eight days.

The bill still needs to be passed by the Senate, which will likely happen today.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May called for an inquiry into exactly what took place leading up to last night's decision.

She said Prime Minister Stephen Harper turned the reactor shutdown into a partisan issue and undermined Canada's nuclear regulator.

"Yesterday in the House, he attacked the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission which is the regulatory body that oversees nuclear safety, referring to them as Liberal appointments and charging the Liberal party was getting in the way of people getting their medical isotopes," May told CTV's Canada AM. (click to see video)

"This was a moment for statesmanship, this is when the prime minister should have called on all parties to work together in the interests of Canadians to protect the supply of radioactive isotopes."

She said the situation sets a dangerous precedent for other Canadian communities that host nuclear reactors.

"These are experts in nuclear safety and the chairperson Linda Keen has now been undercut by the prime minister," May said.

"So the next time Canadians living near a nuclear reactor should be concerned if there's a safety defect in a reactor, AECL is going to thumb their nose at the regulator and know the prime minister is going to come to their defence and blame the regulator?"

The Liberals had threatened to refuse to give the bill the unanimous support necessary to bypass the legislative process.

But all of the political parties eventually agreed to fast-track the legislation through the House and Senate.

MPs passed the vote late Tuesday night, with the NDP and Bloc Quebecois backing it.

The Liberal-dominated Senate, which also agreed to stay late, was expected to put the bill to a vote by early today.

CTV

Editor:

"Isn't this political system just great? Although you might not agree with the decision, at least some real decisions are being made!"

"I wonder though, who's going to pay the bill if there's going to be a meltdown!"

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Brampton Civic Hospital under fire

March for better care because of 2 deaths at Brampton's state-of-the-art facility

The second untimely death in less than a month at Brampton Civic Hospital spurred 1,500 marchers who rallied to protest the shortage of staff and beds, long wait times, and lack of funding at the new facility.

Organized by a grassroots group calling itself Bramptonians for Better Health Care, marchers staged a peaceful rally, carrying signs that read: "We demand full capacity," "Reduce wait times," and "Treat us with a smile, we are patients."

Gathering at Brampton City Hall at noon yesterday, they walked a one-kilometer route along Queen St. E. to the mothballed Peel Memorial Hospital, which Brampton Civic replaced on Oct. 28.

Virtually all of the marchers were from the area's large South Asian community, riled up by the recent deaths of Harnek Sidhu, 52, and Amarjit Narwal, 42, at Brampton Civic.

Among the marchers was Narwal's cousin, Inderjit Nijjar. He told reporters that Narwal, who had suffered a stroke, was taken to emergency at Brampton Civic by ambulance from Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga. Narwal was put on blood thinning medication, but slipped into a coma and died less than 24 hours after being admitted to Brampton Civic, Nijjar said.

Officials at the hospital were not available for comment yesterday.

"He died because of the lack of doctors,'' said Nijjar, who accompanied his cousin to the hospital. "He wasn't looked after at all. The doctor never saw his face, just ordered the medication over the phone.Until we started screaming, nobody came to see him. Then finally the doctor came, looked at him and the chart and said, `Sorry, it's too late.'"

Sidhu's family was also part of the march.

"We don't want any family to go through what we went through," said his widow, Surinder. Her husband died of pancreatitis after a 12-hour wait in emergency and a 10-day stay at the hospital.

The two deaths highlight the crisis at Brampton Civic said rally organizer Rajinder Saini, editor of Parvasi Weekly newspaper and host of Parvasi Radio, where the topic has been hotly debated for weeks.

"People are outraged. They want answers," said Saini. "What happened to Mr. Sidhu and Mr. Narwal can happen to anyone. We came here from India for the best health care in the world and now we're scared to go to that hospital."

Adds Bruce Haines, provincial Green party candidate for Bramalea-Gore-Malton and rally organizer, "Brampton is the second-fastest growing city in Canada and we haven't received our fair share of health care funding ... these deaths heighten those concerns."

Bramptonians for Better Health Care has a list of five demands, including reduced wait times in emergency, reported to be up to 24 hours in some cases, said Saini.

Dr. Naveed Mohammad, the hospital's chief of emergency, has said the average wait time is 212 minutes, slighter higher than it was at Peel Memorial.

The group wants Brampton Civic to operate at full capacity immediately, including hiring additional doctors and nurses. Though built to accommodate 608 beds, the hospital is using only 479 until it can hire staff to handle the rest, a move which is expected by 2012, hospital CEO Robert Richards has said.

Reopening Peel Memorial is also among the group's demands because one hospital can't serve the needs of a community of half a million people, said Raj Sharda, a lawyer and another rally organizer.

Saini said people have complained that hospital staff have been rude.

The South Asian community, which helped to raise millions for the hospital, also feels betrayed that the hospital was built as a public-private partnership, after the Liberals campaigned against so-called P3 projects in the 2003 election, said Jagtar Shergill of the Brampton Health Coalition.

"Their (Liberal) attitude is, just give us the money, but don't ask any questions."

TheStar