Rideau Institute raises concerns over sale of AECL

To the Editor:

The federal government as sold Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. to SNC-Lavalin, but far too few Canadians have considered the record of the Montreal-based engineering firm.

SNC-Lavalin has a questionable business history in Libya and a cozy relationship with Colonel Moammar Gadhafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, who is currently being sought by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

The firm has worked on projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Libya, but none as alarming as the construction of a new prison for the Gadhafi regime in Tripoli. The Canadian government has recognized the Libyan opposition rebels and our air force is bombing the country daily. So, why did the Harper government hand over AECL to SNC-Lavalin, only to risk it selling our nuclear secrets to the next regime we may be fighting?

Steven Staples
Rideau Institute
Ottawa

(Steven Staples, Company Does Business with Libya, Kingston Whig Standard, 7 July 2011)