Open Letter to Marit Stiles (NDP Leader) & Bonnie Crombie (Liberal Leader)
Dear Ms. Stiles & Ms. Crombie:
Last year Toronto City Council asked the Ford Government to phase-out the Portlands gas-fired power plant on our waterfront—and meet our future electricity needs with a combination of energy efficiency and demand management, renewable energy (like rooftop and parking lot solar, and offshore wind in Lake Ontario) and energy storage (including stationary and EV batteries).
Doug Ford has refused this request. Instead, his government is pushing ahead with a plan to build four first-of-their-kind U.S. (GE-Hitachi) nuclear reactors near Oshawa, and a new transmission line to bring that power into Toronto.
This nuclear plan comes at a high-cost. It’s slower-to-deploy than renewables, will drive up electricity bills, and delay the phase-out of the Portlands gas plant. It will also make us increasingly dependent on U.S. technology and enriched uranium imports, jeopardizing both our energy independence and national security.
Ford’s plan will push nuclear to 75% of Ontario’s electricity mix by 2050—up from 48.5% last year—while shrinking renewables from 35% to just 25%.
This is not what Torontonians want.
According to a survey by Oraclepoll Research, 85% of Toronto voters want the Government of Ontario to cancel its contracts for American nuclear reactors and enriched uranium imports. And 81% of Toronto voters support investing in wind and solar energy instead of building new U.S. nuclear reactors.
We need to know where you stand: Do you support a renewable future for Toronto? Will you call on Doug Ford to cancel his contracts for new, high-cost U.S. nuclear reactors and support a renewable path forward?
Yours sincerely,
Angela Bischoff, Director
Take Action
Please contact Marit Stiles, Leader of the Ontario NDP, and Bonnie Crombie, Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, and ask them to support an affordable renewable electricity future for Toronto, not costly American nuclear reactors and fuel.