A small Ontario town at the heart of a Japanese documentary

A media whirlwind has gripped Ignace, a small municipality in Northwestern Ontario, in recent months, especially since its designation on November 28 as the host community for the future location of Canada’s first nuclear tomb.

So much so that the Municipality saw fit to publish a press release to explain to its approximately 1,250 citizens this craze and the presence of a Japanese film crew on the scene, reports Jake Pastoreresponsible for communications and awareness for Ignace.

People saw a Japanese film crew moving around town and filming […] and they were wondering what was going on.

We therefore wanted to keep our residents informed of all this attention coming from abroadexplains Mr. Pastore.

A production of WAC Inc, the scientific documentary Galileo Xis particularly interested in the processes started by the municipality of Ignace 14 years ago, indicates Mr. Pastore.

The film looks at the democratic process in which citizens actively participated in order to make their voices and opinions heard.

The decision to choose the township of Ignace and the Ojibwe Nation of Wabigoon Lake fell while they were in Canada.

The icing on the cakeexclaims Mr. Pastore, which allowed the team to focus more on the decision and the next steps to take.

We are thrilled to have come to visit, film and learn how Ignace Township and the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation have made significant progress toward being selected to become the first place in Canada to host a geological repository deepvoiced director and producer Hiroaki Ota.

The Japanese team also traveled to South Brucethe other place in the running to host the nuclear tomb.

The documentary is expected to be released in Japan towards the end of February 2025.

Notable media coverage

In recent weeks, we have granted around forty, even fifty interviews to the media across the country.confirms M. Pastore.

Not to mention, he adds, the international media coverage, notably an article published in the current affairs magazine The Economist, et the fact that we have been contacted by the nuclear industry both from within and outside the country.

This has catapulted our community to another level. When people say that Ignace is now “on the map”, she really is, even internationally.

An interest that comes from the fact that this is the selection of a location for the first deep geological repository in Canada, believes Mr. Pastore. From now on, eyes are on Canadahe concludes.