There has been a lot of sabre-rattling from the President of our neighbouring country around tariffs and, while it’s difficult to discern how and when these threats might be applied, it has exposed vulnerabilities that we must come together to address.
At Bruce Power, it’s our hope that with governments from Canada, its provinces and their counterparts from the United States working together, tariffs can be avoided or minimized. Tariffs would be bad for Canada, but they would also be terrible for American consumers at a time when people in both countries are concerned about the impacts of inflation on their household budgets, businesses and communities.
If Ontario was a country, it would be the United States’ third-largest trading partner. There’s no doubt that a 25 per cent tariff, and the likely retaliation from Canada, is a major economic concern that would impact jobs and economic growth on both sides of the border.
While there is much consternation, the best way to battle the unknown is to focus on a solution.
For Bruce Power, as one of the largest producers of clean electricity in Canada and one of the world’s largest producers of medical isotopes, this means we’re aligning closely with the federal and provincial governments’ strategy of strengthening ties between Canada and the U.S.
In fact, prior to the threat of tariffs from the U.S., the Ontario government had proposed an initiative called Fortress Am-Can. This initiative seeks to encourage U.S. lawmakers, states and the federal government to work very closely with the province of Ontario around North American energy security.
North American energy security includes a stable supply of reliable electricity. Ontario is a net exporter of electricity to the U.S. and Bruce Power continues to provide roughly 30 per cent of Ontario’s electricity supply.
It also includes the availability of resources from Northern Ontario, so the United States can get critical minerals needed in their economy from the province of Ontario, instead of from China.
We also know that the U.S. is a major user of medical isotopes, including the cobalt-60 and lutetium-177 produced by Bruce Power.
We can’t control what happens in terms of the president of the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canada, but we can influence what happens by working with our friends and colleagues across Canada in all levels of government to talk about how we fit in as part of a solution.
The links between Canada and the U.S. have the potential to ensure that North America is an energy powerhouse with a more reliable, cleaner and very competitive energy system. That not only includes medical isotopes and free flow of nuclear power, but greater exports of natural gas and oil from Western Canada.
