THUNDER BAY -- Andrea Horwath said the potential closure of the Thunder Bay Generating Station has become a political football.
“One of the things we need to do is get the politics out of energy,” said the Ontario NDP leader Thursday after addressing the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
Horwath said it’s interesting the Liberal government is prepared to spend more than $1 billion in moving two gas plants in the GTA in what she says is a move to save four or five seats in the next provincial election.
“Now they are asking Northwestern Ontario to pay for it by saving $400 million and cancelling that conversion,” she said.
Last week the Ontario Power Authority decided to suspend the conversion of the local power plant from coal to natural gas and because Ontario must be off of coal by 2014, the decision would effectively close the plant.
Municipal leaders and both area Liberal MPPs support keeping the plant open.
Cancelling the deals will cost so much because they’re private power deals, Horwath said.
Ontario should take notice of other provinces like Manitoba and Quebec, both of which have public power systems, where they pay about half of what Ontarians do.
“We need to make sure the power that’s generated in Ontario is done so in the best interest of Ontarians and make it affordable,” she said.
Horwath has heard concerns from people in Thunder Bay about the potential plant closure and how it would affect the future power needs of the Ring of Fire.
“The conversion has been on-again, off-again a couple of times. It’s like the community is a yo-yo at the end of a string in terms of the decision-making around the conversion and that’s not acceptable,” she said.
“For the investment to happen, for the economic development to occur in terms of new mining opportunities, there has to be a reliable source of power and the most reliable source of power would have to be that plant,” Horwath added.
The party leader also said the NDP would be committed to making sure power is available in Thunder Bay and the surrounding areas for the mining sector.
But it’s not just the power plant conversion, but general decision-making regarding the North that concerns Horwath.
“The power issues is one of the pieces we need to look at, but there’s much more we need to do to make sure Northern Ontario and Northwestern Ontario are treated in a way that recognizes not only their unique potential but their unique challenges as well,” she said.
Horwath also met with the Thunder Bay Disaster Relief Committee Thursday afternoon to get a fundraising update and also to see how else the government can help.
