Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Conservative MP Alex Ruff says he’d like more information about the potential impacts of the proposed pumped storage energy facility at the Canadian Armed Forces 4th Canadian Division Training Centre in Meaford.
Ruff was a guest on the Open Line call-in show on Bayshore Broadcasting’s AM 560 CFOS on March 17th, where some callers expressed concern over the project proposed by TC Energy.
The proposed facility would pump water from a low-lying reservoir to a higher elevation reservoir during periods of low demand for electricity, and then release the water back through turbines to generate electricity when power demand is higher.
Ruff told listeners he has two key concerns, explaining, “One— the impact it will have on training and operations at that base. Our Canadian Armed Forces are struggling. A lot of backlog in training and recruiting. That is by far, in my opinion, the busiest base here in Ontario for our reserves in particular, but a lot of law enforcement across the province utilize that base for training.”
Ruff continued, “So I want to understand that impact assessment. I made it crystal clear to the minister…that I want to see the document— the operational and training impact assessment done because I want to understand how it impacts our military and our base, because that’s the key.”
He added, “I have been reassured that at any time, DND determines that the project is going to have a negative impact, that they can pull the plug on it.”
“My secondary concern is just the whole funding of it,” said Ruff, explaining, he has not received answers about whether or not there will be any federal funding for the proposed project,” Ruff says TC Energy is multi billion dollar company, adding, “If they want to go ahead with this project, they shouldn’t be doing it with taxpayers’ money at all, they should be doing it on their own and they shouldn’t be dependent upon public.”
“As for the locals’ concerns, I’ve presented a number of petitions on behalf of concerned people that live in the riding over the last number of years,” said Ruff.
He added, “I know my concerns haven’t been fully answered here.”
He said, “I’ve been neutral, but even in the last federal election– the cons that I’ve heard around this project outweigh the pros for why it should go forward, so I’m still very pessimistic I guess you could say, about the benefits of moving ahead with this proposal.”