Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith says he will respect the decision of Thorold City Council to oppose the building of a new gas-fired power plant in that community. But the Minister has completely ignored two similar resolutions from the City of Toronto opposing the expansion of the Portlands Gas Plant on the city’s waterfront.

Since Doug Ford became Premier, Portland’s greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution has increased by 550%. In 2022, it produced as much GHG pollution as 133,000 cars. Still, Portlands only ran at about 30% of its capacity in 2022, so there is lots of room to continue to ramp up gas burning – and pollution – at the plant. And now its owner, Ontario Power Generation, wants to expand Portlands by another 50 megawatts. Everything in Toronto is going in the wrong direction.

It’s time for Minister Smith to show Toronto the same respect he showed Thorold, and accept City Council’s clear direction that the Portlands gas plant must not be expanded – it should be phased-out.

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