It seems to me that not including the effects on all the communities along the transportation corridor is like looking at the circulatory system without looking at the blood vessels. The heart may function fine, but if there are issues with any of the arteries or veins, there are serious health problems.

If anything happens along the way, the local communities, which haven't been consulted about whether we want these poisons crossing our territories, are the ones that will have to pay the consequences.

As someone who has lived in northwestern Ontario for nearly half a century, there have always been complaints about highway safety. The situation now is only getting worse. Just look at the number of accidents that happen. Every day. This type of material, nuclear fuel, is the most radioactive of all. So why transport it at all? Why not deal with it at the reactor site?

In the 1980s, I was part of a big movement that campaigned for, and succeeded in having the City of Thunder Bay declared a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone. In the spirit of that declaration, and out of respect for the living beings along any transport route, all the communities, small and big, must agree to and be part of the full assessment process.