Goldie Ghamari - Statement on the Impending OPG Strike

00:00:00.000 Member's statements. The Member for Carleton.

00:00:03.200 Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'm truly honoured to rise today in this emergency reconvening

00:00:11.600 of the Legislature to deal with the impending strike by the Power Workers Union. OPG spokesperson

00:00:16.880 Neil Kelly has indicated that a strike by 6,000 workers at Ontario Power Generation means workers

00:00:22.560 could start a days-long process of shutting down nuclear power plants before potentially launching

00:00:27.840 a strike on January 4, 2019. A strike by the OPG would put the reliability of the entire provincial

00:00:34.800 electricity system at risk. The independent electricity system operator has said that the

00:00:40.000 shutdown of OPG's nuclear and hydroelectric facilities could occur in approximately three

00:00:45.680 weeks. At that point, Ontario would not have the generation needed to meet consumer demand and

00:00:51.440 customers would begin losing power. The IESO will take every action available to delay and mitigate

00:00:57.200 the impact however these actions will not be enough to prevent significant losses of power

00:01:02.480 in my riding of carlton i've already seen the devastating impact left due to prolonged lack of

00:01:07.440 power back when the tornado hit dun robin and the ottawa area we lost electricity and people across

00:01:13.920 my riding were adversely affected that includes senior homes affordable housing and subsidized

00:01:19.360 housing people living on life support isolated and vulnerable families and some pumps wouldn't

00:01:24.480 work either. With sub-zero temperatures in the dead of winter, Carleton's residents

00:01:28.620 need electricity. It's not a luxury, Mr. Speaker. It is a necessity of life. And without

00:01:33.680 it, people are at risk of disease and, God forbid, death.

Goldie Ghamari - December 17, 2018