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We all feel it at the grocery store and when we pay our monthly bills. The rising cost of living is the defining challenge for families across Ontario today. In this environment, it is easy to view any talk of infrastructure spending as just another unwelcome cost. However, there is a distinct difference between cost and investment.
Investing in Ontario’s nuclear industry is one of our greatest defences against economic instability. We are the owners of a world-class industry that reliably powers our homes, schools and factories. Our nuclear sector is an inheritance that provides us with price stability and energy security that is the envy of our global peers.
Recent discussions regarding proposed rate increases for Ontario power customers must be viewed through this lens. Any vital public infrastructure – be it a new bridge, hospital or wastewater plant – requires an upfront commitment. We don’t view a new hospital as a “cost” to the taxpayer; we see it as an investment in our family’s health. The same thinking must apply to our energy grid.
Julie O’Driscoll, Executive Director, Ontario’s Nuclear Advantagesupplied
Nuclear energy uniquely offers a significant return on investment that stays right here in Ontario. While many other energy sources rely on global supply chains by importing solar panels, wind turbines or fuels from overseas, nuclear is a “Made-in-Ontario” success story. Thanks in large part to our world-renowned refurbishment projects, the industry currently contributes more than $22-billion to Canada’s GDP annually.
This isn’t an abstract number. It represents union jobs, robust domestic supply chains and high-tech manufacturing. It represents high-skilled graduates from Ontario schools. And it represents the production of life-saving medical isotopes in our CANDU fleet, putting Ontario at the forefront of a rapidly growing and vitally important nuclear medicine industry.
The money Ontario residents invest through their energy bills does not flow to faceless multinational corporations. It flows into local plants, engineering firms and the pockets of the nearly 90,000 highly skilled workers and taxpayers who make up our domestic workforce. This is sound industrial policy in action.
By choosing to invest in our nuclear fleet today, we are ensuring that Ontario’s industry is not left behind, providing the stable, high-capacity power required to fuel our economic growth for the next half-century and beyond.
Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, Ontariosupplied
We can see the consequences of the alternative approach in Europe. In a recent statement, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called his country’s nuclear phase-out a “serious strategic mistake.” He noted that Germany is now undertaking the most expensive energy transition in the entire world. They are struggling with rapid deindustrialization due in large part to high energy prices and insufficient capacity, all because they turned their backs on nuclear power.
Ontario avoided that trap. While our current investments may appear significant, they pale in comparison to the financial and environmental toll we would be facing if we had decided to focus solely on variable renewables backed by imported fossil fuels. Nobody is questioning that solar and wind technologies will play a complementary role to nuclear in Ontario’s clean energy future; however, the naïve suggestion that they are a comparable and “cheaper” option to nuclear ignores the reality that the long-term economic payout of nuclear power is many times greater.
Worry over today’s costs cannot be an excuse for “quick-fix” solutions that lead to surging bills and energy insecurity tomorrow. We are spending today to ensure our children inherit a province that is energy-independent, secure and economically vibrant.
Decades ago, our parents and grandparents made the same choice. They invested in our original nuclear fleet and then again in successful refurbishments, providing us with a competitive advantage we have benefitted from for more than 50 years. Now, it is our turn. By supporting these investments, we are securing a future of clean air, high-paying jobs and a world-class industry that belongs to every resident of this province.
Let’s take pride in what we’ve built. Ontario’s nuclear industry is not a cost to be managed. It is an inheritance to be nurtured for the benefit of all.
For more information: Visit Ontario’s Nuclear Advantage
Advertising feature produced by Randall Anthony Communications. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.