Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I want to say thank you to all the witnesses for appearing. It's very informative and helpful for this discussion.
I want to direct my first set of questions to George Christidis and David Adams.
I'm quite taken by the initiatives happening in the nuclear sector. George, you and I have discussed this in the past. In budget 2023 there are obviously some major shifts occurring. You see clean electricity generation tax credits of 15% that apply to both large and small modular reactors. You also see a clean-tech manufacturing tax credit of up to 30% that applies to nuclear energy equipment and a commitment to extend the reduced tax rates for zero-emission tech manufacturers. It was broadened out by three years. The broadening out also subsumes nuclear equipment within it. We heard what the Prime Minister said at a U of O conference just last week here in Ottawa about needing more nuclear. We had Chrystia Freeland at the Pickering plant. These are all steps in the right direction.
For George's and David's benefit, when VW was here and made that very massive announcement, I also heard that the cleanliness of the Ontario grid is the reason they're locating their first-ever electric battery manufacturing plant outside Europe in Ontario. It's 90% non-emitting right now.
Could you comment, George, on the signals in the budget, and how you feel about those?
David, could you wade into the perspective on what a clean grid—one that's also being cleaned by nuclear—means for the next set of investments from a future VW, in terms of attracting investment into the country?
It's over to the two of you. If I could ask you for about 60 to 80 seconds each, that would be great.