Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses for being with us this afternoon.
Over the past several hearings that we've had, a consensus is almost coming from all the witnesses that we need clarity and that we need a sense of urgency in the response to the IRA.
Ms. Kwan, you mentioned yourself that it's a game-changer. It reshapes the climate world. Bob Masterson, the CEO of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, just recently said, “The IRA is the most audacious public policy instrument ever introduced to decarbonize a major economy in the world.” He went on to add that the Americans “have unleashed the power of private capital” to decarbonize, while Canada is still stuck in debates over strategies and plans. We have to react and we have to move seriously forward.
Mr. Gorman, I was just reading an article that you prepared for Policy Options in May. You talked about the government and nuclear power again. The article was “Time for Canada to commit to nuclear power”, and you mentioned that “we have a government [in Canada] that is a champion of nuclear one day, yet leaves it as a footnote the next.” I mean, you've see the recent investments by the Canada Infrastructure Bank of $970 million. Certain provisions came out in the federal budget 2022, yet “nuclear was excluded from the clean tax credit policy” in 2020. It was also not included in the accelerated capital cost allowances and then, of course, in the Canada green bond framework.
As we move forward, we need to also take a look at some of your five recommendations. You said how the government can take steps to accommodate that, particularly in Ontario. We have 60% of the grid in Ontario alone provided by nuclear power. I come from the riding of Niagara Falls, which provides 2,200 megawatts of clean hydroelectric power. However, 60%....
Previously, I had the pleasure of working and doing community relations for Bruce Power when it was first established in Kincardine. You see the impact that British Energy had when it moved to Canada, not only in saving the community and the power that it produced but also the supply chains. In my riding alone, you have E.S. Fox, which has thousands of jobs—of workers—not only in the nuclear sector but also now with the Darlington station, as they're going to be working there.
What are the things that we need to do, particularly as we move forward to decarbonize? We're going to need increased power. Sixty percent of the grid in Ontario right now is nuclear. With regard to your point about utilities and large power producers, such as nuclear, how do we get the government to change its examination of that and include it in the green bonds so that we can go forward?