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Liberal MP's anti-nuclear comments 'disappointing,' says Saint John colleague

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Liberal MP's anti-nuclear comments 'disappointing,' says Saint John colleague

Wayne Long says Liberals need to support nuclear power to reduce carbon emissions

Saint John-Rothesay's Wayne Long argues it's time for his party to "pick a lane" and get behind the technology.

Long was responding to MP Jenica Atwin's comments at a news conference in Ottawa organized by a New Brunswick group opposed to nuclear power.

The Trudeau government says expanding nuclear power is part of its strategy to reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions.

A woman smiling in front of a microphone. She is holding a notebook in her hands. Liberal MP Jenica Atwin said she was supporting constituents who want to inform Canadians about 'the associated risk and the many unknowns' with small modular reactors. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

But Atwin, first elected as a Green MP in 2019 before switching to the Liberals in 2021, said Tuesday she was supporting constituents who want to inform Canadians about "the associated risk and the many unknowns" with SMRs.

"I want to be clear that I am here as an individual, a concerned individual, a mother, and as a member of parliament for Fredericton," Atwin said at the Parliament Hill news conference organized by the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development–New Brunswick. 

Long called Atwin's intervention "healthy" because it shows diverse opinions are welcome in the federal Liberal caucus.

But he said "people can be misinformed and not understand" the role nuclear energy can play in helping Canada reach the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

"I recognize that there's a pocket in the Fredericton area that's very Green, if you will, and very anti-nuclear. … Call it like it is," Long said.

The three-term MP said there's a limit to how much the Liberal party should try to appeal to those voters.

"It's time for us to pick a lane, and the lane we need to be on is the lane that supports nuclear energy for New Brunswick," said Long, who isn't running in the next election.

'More to determine,' says Liberal leader

Last year, new provincial Liberal Leader Susan Holt, who worked for a previous government that funded SMR development, said she was "not sure it's the solution for electricity generation for our province.

"I think it's not clear yet if it will really give us energy in a way that's responsible and efficient with our investments, so there's still more to determine there."

Nuclear energy does not emit carbon dioxide that causes climate change, though environmentalists have flagged safety and long-term waste concerns.

Activists and politicians are pictured at a press conference in Ottawa. Physicist Ginette Charbonneau, NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice, Liberal MP Jenica Atwin, Bloc Quebecois MP Mario Simard and Green Party MP Elizabeth May listen to Coalition for Responsible Energy Development-New Brunswick’s Susan O’Donnell speak during a news conference in Ottawa, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Two companies with operations in Long's Saint John riding are working with N.B. Power to develop small reactors to install next to the Point Lepreau nuclear generation station. 

Both have received tens of millions of dollars in subsidies from the federal and provincial governments. 

Ottawa recently upped the ante in the federal budget, making nuclear plants eligible for a new 15-per-cent clean energy tax credit.

Last fall, the federal Canada Infrastructure Bank announced $970 million for a small modular reactor in Ontario.

'Agree to disagree,' Long says

Long, who has broken ranks with his party on other issues, said he didn't think Atwin would suffer any consequences for dissenting.

"Jenica's a great MP. She's a great colleague. We obviously agree to disagree on nuclear energy. … The party encourages a diversity of opinions and it is what it is. Is it disappointing? Yes. Am I surprised? No." 

Long suggested Atwin tour the Point Lepreau plant to see how safe it is.

Asked Tuesday if there were other "outliers" in the Liberal caucus who oppose nuclear power, Atwin said some of her colleagues were "open" to learning more.

"I'm used to be an outlier, oftentimes. I think people can see that by now. But I've been very open with my personal opinion on this and bringing the voices of my constituency forward," she said.

A nuclear plant in the distance with water and waves in the foreground Long suggested Atwin tour the Point Lepreau plant to see how safe it is. (Submitted by NB Power)

"I'm grateful to my colleagues that they allow me to express my opinions and have those conversations to add to the information that's been presented," she said. 

Long said the Liberals have "had some doubters in caucus," and said supporters of nuclear power have "done a lot of work" to win them over, including "leaning into" Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault.

Guilbeault acknowledged Tuesday he once opposed nuclear power as an environmental activist. 

But he said both the International Energy Agency and the International Panel on Climate Change have concluded that "to achieve our carbon neutrality targets, we need this technology."

In February ARC Clean Energy CEO Bill Labbe said his company's first reactor will be running at Point Lepreau by 2030, when N.B. Power must stop burning coal under federal climate regulations.

But Labbe said the 100-megawatt unit won't be enough to replace the 450-megawatt shortfall from the coal phase-out.

Moltex Energy Canada's proposed small nuclear reactor, also to be located at Lepreau, would generate 300 megawatts, but company CEO Rory O'Sullivan said in February it won't be ready for 2030.

Atwin took part in the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development news conference with MPs from the NDP, Green Party and the Bloc Québécois.

She said there were "many different perspectives" on SMRs in her riding, and not all of those voices were being heard in the debate.

She also said "there is no margin for error" on the risks with nuclear power. 

Atwin did not respond to an interview request Wednesday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Jacques Poitras

Provincial Affairs reporter

Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. He grew up in Moncton and covered Parliament in Ottawa for the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. He has reported on every New Brunswick election since 1995 and won awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, the National Newspaper Awards and Amnesty International. He is also the author of five non-fiction books about New Brunswick politics and history.

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41 Comments
 
 
 
David Amos
Should we call this a no nuke day? 
David Amos
Reply to David Amos  
Methinks the Minister could do it with a stroke of the pen but not now N'esy Pas?

"Long said the Liberals have "had some doubters in caucus," and said supporters of nuclear power have "done a lot of work" to win them over, including "leaning into" Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault.

Guilbeault acknowledged Tuesday he once opposed nuclear power as an environmental activist." 

 
Ted Yuan
Anti nuclear activists and politicians want us to pay more for their wind and solar empire. They pretend to know how the nuclear energy works and how it generates electricity in a reactor. But if you ask them how it actually works, they will switch topics instantly.  
David Amos
Reply to Ted Yuan 
Its not rocket science 
Ted Yuan
Reply to David Amos 
Then why can't you understand how a nuclear reactor works rather than listelistening to anti-nuclear conspiracy theories  
Craig Henderson
Reply to Ted Yuan 
Actually The LCOE (Levelized cost of electricity which accounts for lifetime costs for electricity) is less for Wind and Solar than any other form of electricity generation.  
David Amos
Reply to Ted Yuan   
What makes you think I don't know?
Corrie Weatherfield
Well the MP elected as a green candidate may be just trying to talk green. There have been some form of "SMR" devices operating on submarines for many years have there not?  
David Amos
Reply to Corrie Weatherfield 
She was reelected as a liberal and subs use a different kind of nuke 
Steve Morningstar 
Nuclear is just spicy rocks. Also the waste is metal pellets not goo you see in the movies and can even be recycled and reused (they are doing it in France). Nuclear is by far the most reliable and safest option to move away from carbon based electricity. There is one SMR that has preliminary approval in the US so we are getting closer. I'm not saying wind and solar aren't part of the mix but you need a source of energy when it isn't sunny and the wind isn't blowing.
David Amos
Reply to Steve Morningstar 
They use the waste for the most evil weapons of war 
Douglas James 
Who cares what Long thinks? He has already said he isn't going to seek re-election ( a good thing, in my view) so his views really don't carry much authority. Of course, it doesn't help that he makes the broad -- even condescending -- assumption that "people can be misinformed and not understand" the role nuclear energy can play in helping Canada reach the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Even those who are informed and do understand this, don't necessarily believe nuclear energy is the way out of the mess that previous Liberal land Conservative politicians have put us in with their support for fossil fuel industries in the past.
David Amos
Reply to Douglas James 
Welcome back to the circus 
Jason Macendale 
Wayne is correct. You want to get off oil and reduce carbon but don't offer any reliable solution? Nuclear offers that solution. 
John Dale
Reply to Jason Macendale 
Nuclear is not a solution to energy generation. The waste storage problem is unsolved and uranium is a mineral that requires destructive mining practices.
David Amos
Reply to Jason Macendale 
I disagree
Douglas James 
Reply to David Amos  
If you disagree with what John Dale has said, you should have some basis for your argument other than simply that you disagree. Please provide him and the rest of us with some evidence that nuclear waste storage is not a problem and uranium mining does not involved destructive mining practices. 
Don Corey 
Reply to Jason Macendale 
There are other countries who think differently. Germany has been phasing out nuclear reactors (that produced 25% of their electricity) in 2011. Despite their many recent problems associated with reduced gas from Russia (and nothing from Trudeau to help them out), they're down to 3 reactors that will be shut down by next year.

What do they know that we don't? Probably a lot!

The federal Liberals support nuclear only because it fits their agenda, and not because it's necessarily the right way to proceed.

As to NB Power and their SMR's, when was the last time they did anything that proved to be an appropriate and wise investment?

I'm not convinced.

I also commend Liberal MP Atwin for having the intestinal fortitude to speak up.

  
Don Corey  
Reply to David Amos
Moi aussi. 
André Vautour 
Reply to Douglas James 
Given who he was replying to (Jason), I'm pretty sure he was disagreeing with the statement made that nuclear energy is the solution, and not with what John Dale said to counter that statement.
Ben Haroldson 
Reply to André Vautour 
That's what I see.   
David Amos
Reply to André Vautour 
Bingo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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