Editor,
As the the Business Manager of LiUNA, Ontario Provincial District Council (“LiUNA”), I am writing on behalf of LiUNA’s 120,000 hard-working Ontario members – several thousand of whom live and work in Grey, Bruce and Simcoe Counties – to reiterate our support for TC Energy’s proposed Ontario Pumped Storage Project at the Canadian Force’s 4th Division Training Centre north of Meaford, Ontario.
LiUNA believes that infrastructure projects that provide long term employment and strong middle-class wages are at the heart of the Canadian economy. Building communities is LiUNA’s mantra and mandate. With the current economic downturn as a result of the COVID-19 virus and other global factors, support for infrastructure projects to begin repairing our economy has never been more important.
LiUNA understands that economic concerns are not the sole impetus in projects of this nature. There are also environmental and aesthetic concerns. LiUNA believes that it is critical we develop alternative, green sources of energy like this pumped storage facility to address the current climate crisis. In addition, we believe that TC Energy is a responsible corporate citizen. We understand they have responded to local concerns and revised the design of their project to place major components of the facility underground and to ensure that water intake is located away from the shoreline with protections in place for aquatic life. This responsiveness to community concerns is consistent with our positive, collaborative experience working with TC Energy.
In conclusion, we believe that the Pumped Storage Project presents a unique opportunity to provide training and employment opportunities in the region in support of well paying, middle class skilled jobs to help our economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic while also addressing important climate concerns through the generation of green energy. We believe these goals can be met while also maintaining the important environmental and aesthetic features of the Georgian Bay region. For these reasons, we urge the Municipality of Meaford to support TC Energy’s Pumped Storage Project proposal.
Yours truly,
Jack Oliveira
Business Manager, LiUNA OPDC and LiUNA, Local 183
