That's all right. Mr. Shearer used the analogy of the Olympics, in terms of Canada going out.... I thought it might be an unfortunate one in terms of the cost overruns, the massive subsidies, and the controversy over the project in Vancouver.
Mr. Robbins, to your issue, on your slide of the nuclear future in Canada, Ontario is now potentially off the books or is delaying its request in asking Ottawa for some billions in subsidies in order to do the build. Alberta is looking at a greenfield build, which the industry itself says is very difficult to do. In these contexts, brownfield builds are much easier. Saskatchewan is at the speculative stage. New Brunswick's refurbishment of the Lepreau is delayed and is costing a million dollars a day in electricity costs to the people of New Brunswick. It's not necessarily a great assessment.
One of the challenges I've been having in listening to the testimony on the state and health of the nuclear industry in Canada in this so-called global renaissance is that somewhere around 130 build contracts are out there—the number varies—either in the process of.... None of them that we're aware of is using CANDU technology.
Also, we seem to have a vicious cycle going on with the way the government has approached this privatization process. This is my question to you. They've announced that they want to privatize. This has created a level of uncertainty. There are no new contracts as everybody waits to see what the structure of the privatization is going to be--and there's a question I want to bring to Mr. Ivanco in a second--which I would assume affects the price the Canadian taxpayers are going to get for their investment in AECL. That's as a starter.
This cycle continues in this realm of uncertainty. I don't understand how the industry can seem so rosy. We don't have folks banging on our doors wanting us to build them reactors. The one place, Ontario, that looked as though it was willing to do it is only willing to do it if all taxpayers across Canada subsidize the build.
I know that part of your job is as a supporter of the industry—that's your enthusiasm—but I'm finding difficulty in squaring the circle for that enthusiastic feeling about where the industry in Canada stands right now.