Nuclear watchdog president blasts Lunn over letter

Globe and Mail
January 8, 2008

The president of the Nuclear Safety Commission is accusing Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn of improper interference with the agency.

And in a letter to Mr. Lunn, Linda Keen warns that she'll fight in the courts any attempt by the minister to have her fired.

Ms. Keen says Mr. Lunn's letter threatening her termination for refusing to follow a ministerial directive will send a “chill” through quasi-judicial agencies that are supposed to be at arm's-length from government.

The nuclear watchdog says she has asked the privacy commissioner and the RCMP to investigate how Mr. Lunn's letter came to be leaked to the media.
Linda Keen

Linda Keen
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The Globe and Mail

Ms. Keen came under fire late last year when she insisted the 50-year-old nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ont., remain closed until a backup safety system was installed.

Mr. Lunn, and the Prime Minister, pressured the agency to reopen the reactor, eventually bringing in emergency legislation to overturn the watchdog's decision and restart the reactor.

Meanwhile, the Sierra Club of Canada wants Parliament to protect the Commission from political interference.

Citing the leaked letter, the environmental group says the nuclear safety commission must be granted protection similar to that given superior court judges and the auditor general.

Sierra Club director Stephen Hazell says the safety of Canadians is put at risk when the nuclear watchdog faces the kind of bullying Mr. Lunn has demonstrated since the medical isotope scare at Chalk River.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is looking into the matter, to determine whether the leak constitutes a breach of privacy.