{"id":103189,"date":"2026-03-27T08:55:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T12:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=103189"},"modified":"2026-03-27T08:55:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T12:55:20","slug":"chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs implored to ‘stand firm’ against nuclear waste project"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com AROLAND \u2014 First Nations need to oppose a nuclear-waste disposal plan together, Aroland First Nation\u2019s chief told fellow chiefs this week. \u201cI think what we need to do as Nishnawbe Aski Nation is to stand firm,\u201d Chief Sonny Gagnon said Wednesday at the NAN Spring Chiefs Assembly in Toronto. \u201cWe have quite the battle that is before us.\u201d He added that the 49 member First Nations of NAN, a political organization for Treaty 5 and Treaty 9 communities across northern Ontario, \u201cneed to work collectively.\u201d The ramifications of a nuclear waste repository operating in Northwestern Ontario and nuclear waste being trucked to the site are \u201ca lot worse than what (mining in) the Ring of Fire is going to be doing,\u201d he… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com AROLAND \u2014 First Nations need to oppose a nuclear-waste disposal plan together, Aroland First Nation\u2019s chief told fellow chiefs this week. \u201cI think what we need to do as Nishnawbe Aski Nation is to stand firm,\u201d Chief Sonny Gagnon said Wednesday at the NAN Spring Chiefs Assembly in Toronto. \u201cWe have quite the battle that is before us.\u201d He added that the 49 member First Nations of NAN, a political organization for Treaty 5 and Treaty 9 communities across northern Ontario, \u201cneed to work collectively.\u201d The ramifications of a nuclear waste repository operating in Northwestern Ontario and nuclear waste being trucked to the site are \u201ca lot worse than what (mining in) the Ring of Fire is going to be doing,\u201d he... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nChiefs implored to 'stand firm' against nuclear waste project - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chiefs implored to 'stand firm' against nuclear waste project - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com AROLAND \u2014 First Nations need to oppose a nuclear-waste disposal plan together, Aroland First Nation\u2019s chief told fellow chiefs this week. \u201cI think what we need to do as Nishnawbe Aski Nation is to stand firm,\u201d Chief Sonny Gagnon said Wednesday at the NAN Spring Chiefs Assembly in Toronto. \u201cWe have quite the battle that is before us.\u201d He added that the 49 member First Nations of NAN, a political organization for Treaty 5 and Treaty 9 communities across northern Ontario, \u201cneed to work collectively.\u201d The ramifications of a nuclear waste repository operating in Northwestern Ontario and nuclear waste being trucked to the site are \u201ca lot worse than what (mining in) the Ring of Fire is going to be doing,\u201d he\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-27T12:55:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/27\\\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/27\\\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Chiefs implored to ‘stand firm’ against nuclear waste project\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-27T12:55:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/27\\\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":566,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/27\\\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/27\\\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\\\/\",\"name\":\"Chiefs implored to 'stand firm' against nuclear waste project - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-27T12:55:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/27\\\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/27\\\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/27\\\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chiefs implored to ‘stand firm’ against nuclear waste project\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chiefs implored to 'stand firm' against nuclear waste project - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chiefs implored to 'stand firm' against nuclear waste project - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com AROLAND \u2014 First Nations need to oppose a nuclear-waste disposal plan together, Aroland First Nation\u2019s chief told fellow chiefs this week. \u201cI think what we need to do as Nishnawbe Aski Nation is to stand firm,\u201d Chief Sonny Gagnon said Wednesday at the NAN Spring Chiefs Assembly in Toronto. \u201cWe have quite the battle that is before us.\u201d He added that the 49 member First Nations of NAN, a political organization for Treaty 5 and Treaty 9 communities across northern Ontario, \u201cneed to work collectively.\u201d The ramifications of a nuclear waste repository operating in Northwestern Ontario and nuclear waste being trucked to the site are \u201ca lot worse than what (mining in) the Ring of Fire is going to be doing,\u201d he","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-03-27T12:55:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"Chiefs implored to ‘stand firm’ against nuclear waste project","datePublished":"2026-03-27T12:55:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/"},"wordCount":566,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/","name":"Chiefs implored to 'stand firm' against nuclear waste project - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-27T12:55:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/chiefs-implored-to-stand-firm-against-nuclear-waste-project\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chiefs implored to ‘stand firm’ against nuclear waste project"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103190,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103189\/revisions\/103190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}