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March _________, 2010
Honourable Dalton McGuinty, Premier and President of the Council
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Dear Premier McGuinty,
In 2006, the need to construct 2 additional nuclear reactors was identified by the Province of Ontario. With this direction many key actions have been taken to ensure that this infrastructure is built in time to secure Ontario the base load energy sources it requires to keep our economy strong and vibrant.
Clarington has been the proud home to Darlington Nuclear for over 30 years and as proud Ontarians who invest in this province and this community, we look forward to the new investment at the Darlington site for 2 new reactors. As the chosen host community for the New Nuclear Build at Darlington, we have been watching very closely. As with all stakeholders in this project we are continuing to prepare for the economic stimulus this will inject into Ontario, Durham Region and the Municipality of Clarington.
Late June 2009 Deputy Premier and Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman announced that the procurement process would be suspended to allow details regarding the ownership of AECL, one of the three vendors involved in the Request for Proposal process, to be resolved as well as to re-evaluate the pricing for the project. This is a major infrastructure investment in Clarington, Durham Region and the Province of Ontario and, of course we understand the details need to be correct and fair to all involved before a decision can be made.
In December 2009, the Federal Government announced that they were putting the CANDU reactor division up for sale. With the first step taken to unlock the suspension, time will be of the essence. It is critical for Ontario to encourage continued movement in this process to allow the project to move forward with the work done to date. By letting this project continue under suspension we are at great risk of the bidding and procedural process to hit an expiry date, which will only delay us further. Ontario’s opportunities for job creation, export opportunities and business expansion through this project are tremendous, and will prove to be a motivator for all industries.
With this in mind, we wanted to once again, endorse the choice of Darlington and to reiterate our support for your leadership on this important matter. This is a major economic boost for Clarington, Durham Region and Ontario. With a predicted 3500 construction phase jobs and 1500 operational positions, along with the numerous spin off and supply chain jobs, this project is of incredible importance to our community. Our local services and business community have begun preparing for the workers coming to our community and our industrial base has been preparing to dovetail their product lines into this project.
As you can imagine the interest in ancillary investment was beginning to peak as this decision to suspend the project was announced. It is essential for us to keep the momentum going for these investment interests to flourish, help Ontario’s economy blossom in these hard times and provide high quality jobs.
We applaud the government for the direction it is following to ensure that the province’s energy demands are met in the long term. Energy is such an important part of Ontario’s economy; to have energy fall into short supply would have serious implications for the prosperity of this great province.
We recognize the important role that nuclear plays as base load generation supporting Green Energy Act initiatives. In Durham, we have used the advantage of the nuclear infrastructure to draw investment to Ontario in other energy initiatives.
We trust that the decisions and discussions that are required to keep this project moving forward are well underway and that we will hear in the near future that the project will soon be moving forward.
Once again, we congratulate the province on its plan to secure energy sources and for choosing Ontario Power Generation as the operator for 2 new nuclear reactors at Darlington.
If there is anything we can do to help facilitate the discussions to advance this critical project, we are prepared to assist.
Yours truly,
cc.
Honorable Dalton McGuinty, Premier and President of the Council
Mr. John O’Toole, MPP
Mr. Wayne Arthurs, MPP
Ms. Christine Elliott, MPP
Hon. Brad Duguid, MPP, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure
Mr. Jerry, Ouellette, MPP
The Honorable Sandra Pupatello, Minister of Economic Development & Trade
The Honorable Bev Oda, MP
Prime Minister Steven Harper
The Honorable Linda Jeffrey, MP, Minister of Natural Resources
Mayor Jim Abernethy, Clarington
Clarington Council
Ontario Chamber of Commerce
Ontario Power Authority
Durham Strategic Energy Alliance
Metroland
Click here to download contact list to whom you can mail and/or email your customized letter
Contacts to whom you can send the Support Letter
Mr. John O’Toole, MPP
75 King St. E.,
Bowmanville ON L1C 1N4
john.otooleco@pc.ola.org
Mr. Wayne Arthurs, MPP
300 Kingston Road, Unit 13
Pickering, ON L1V 6Z9
warthurs.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Ms. Christine Elliott, MPP
101 - 114 Dundas St E
Whitby ON L1N 2H7
christine.elliottco@pc.ola.org
Hon. Brad Duguid, MPP, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure
Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure
900 Bay Street, 4th Floor
Hearst Block
Toronto, Ontario M7A 2E1
bduguid.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Mr. Jerry Ouellette, MPP
170 Athol St. E.,
Oshawa, Ontario L1H 1K1
jerry.ouelletteco@pc.ola.org
Hon. Sandra Pupatello, MPP, Minister of Economic Development and Trade
1368 Ouellette Ave.
Windsor, ON N8X1J9
spupatello.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Hon. Bev Oda, MP
68 King St. E
Bowmanville, ON L1C 3X2
Oda.B@parl.gc.ca
Prime Minister, Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington St.
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Hon. Linda Jeffrey, MPP, Minister of Natural Resources
Ministry of Natural Resources
580 Booth St., 21st Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 0E4
Mayor Jim Abernethy, Clarington
40 Temperance St.
Bowmanville, ON L1C 3A6
mayor@clarington.net
Regional Councillor Mary Novak (Wards 1 & 2)
mnovak@clarington.net
Regional Councillor Charlie Trim (Wards 3 & 4)
ctrim@clarington.net
Local Councillor Adrian Foster (Ward 1)
afoster@clarington.net
Local Councillor Ron Hooper (Ward 2)
rhooper@clarington.net
Local Councillor Willie Woo (Ward 3)
wwoo@clarington.net
Local Councillor Gord Robinson (Ward 4)
grobinson@clarington.net
Ontario Chamber of Commerce
180 Dundas Street West, Suite 505
Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8
Ben Chin
Ontario Power Authority
120 Adelaide Street West, Suite 1600
Toronto, ON M5H 1T1
Jonathan Wheatle
Durham Strategic Energy Alliance
1610 Champlain Ave
Whitby, ON L1N 6A7
Fred Eismont
Metroland
865 Farewell St.
Oshawa ON, L1H 7L5