Good morning, everyone.

It’s great to be in Bowmanville with you all.

Premier Ford, thank you for being here.

I deeply value the partnership we have forged over the last six months.

We are both focused on building a strong economy and getting big projects built faster – and together, we’re delivering for the people of Ontario.

Thank you to Nicole and the team at Ontario Power Generation. You are a driving force in clean energy in the province and you have big champions in the Premier and me.

And to Minister Hodgson, Minister Bethlenfalvy, and Minister McCarthy, thank you all for being here.

We are united in a mission to create new opportunities for workers and businesses – to build big, build bold, and build now.

Yesterday, at the University of Ottawa, I highlighted more of our new government’s plan to build Canada strong.

To transform our economy – from being too reliant on the U.S. to one that is stronger, and more resilient.

To take control of our future as Canadians.

Because the world is increasingly dangerous and divided.

New technologies have brought distant threats to our door. And the trade war is causing massive economic uncertainty, holding back investment and costing jobs here in Ontario.

This is not a transition. It is a rupture.

To confront the challenges, to emerge stronger, Canadians must chart a new course. We must take control of our future, bet big on ourselves, and play to win.

On November 4, we will table our first federal budget.

It will make generational investments, with a plan to protect our communities, our borders, and our way of life.

To build a stronger economy where everyone has a chance to get ahead.

And to empower Canadians with new opportunities, better careers, and a lower cost of living.

Our plan, first and foremost, is to build – so we can take control of our own future.

In the last six months, Canada’s new government has been relentlessly focused on this mission.

We started by creating the right conditions to get big things built, faster.

For too long, the construction of major infrastructure has been stalled by arduous, inefficient approval processes.

Uncertainty, red tape, duplicated and complicated review processes have curbed investment.

To receive approval, major projects had to undergo numerous reviews and assessments that often happen one after the other, instead of all running in parallel.

For too long, when federal agencies have examined a new project, their immediate question has been: “Why?”

We’re changing that. We’re asking: “How?”

At the end of June, we passed the One Canadian Economy Act with bipartisan support, to remove federal barriers to internal trade and to fast-track the approvals of nation-building projects.

In August, we opened the Major Projects Office, which serves as a single point of contact to get nation-building projects built faster.

Projects that will turbocharge our economy.

Projects that will export to new partners around the world.

Projects that will create hundreds of thousands of high-paying careers – good union careers – for Canadian workers.

In September, we announced the first tranche of projects being referred to the Major Projects Office. One of these is the Darlington New Nuclear Project.

Today, we are here to make a generational investment that will extend Canada’s world leadership in clean energy, to make us the first in the G7 to have a new kind of nuclear reactor.

Canada’s new government is putting forward $2 billion to build new clean energy technology – the first of its kind in Canada.

With the Canada Growth Fund, we are building four small modular reactors – technology that will power homes in Ontario with clean energy.

Once built, the first of four new reactors will be able to power 300,000 homes with clean energy.

Keeping your lights on and your air clear.

This project will drive $500 million annually into Ontario’s nuclear supply chain and will position Canada as a global leader in the deployment of small modular reactors to other markets.

Clean technology is the future. And, as one of the first countries to design and adopt this technology, Canada will be able to remain competitive in the global economy.

To strengthen Canada’s sustainability advantage, we are launching a new climate competitiveness strategy, which will help us reduce our emissions, be more innovative, and be a global leader in clean technologies.

The first Darlington SMR will sustain 3,700 jobs annually, including 18,000 jobs during construction, over the next 65 years.

Jobs like the plant workers joining us today have. Fulfilling careers in the trades, working to provide Ontario families with power.

Building does not only create jobs; it also supports our industries.

With our Buy Canadian Policy, when we build, we will be our own best customer – and over 80% of the procurement for this project will be from within Canada.

Our big projects will be built using steel from Ontario, aluminum from Québec, and lumber from British Columbia.

We will build them using resources and critical minerals from all across the country, which will allow us to support Canadian industries and workers.

When we build projects in Canada, we support Canadian industries, Canadian workers, and Canadian families.

I opened my comments by reminding us that Canada’s new government will table our Budget in two weeks.

We will make responsible choices. Difficult choices, pragmatic choices.

We will do less of some of the things we want to do, so we can do more of what we must do to build a bigger, better Canada.

So we can invest in the infrastructure and industries that grow our economy.

We will make the investments needed to protect our communities so you can feel safe in your neighbourhood.

When a community is safe, people, families want to move there, find a home, have a rewarding career, and make sure their children get a good education there.

These conditions help us to feel safe and in control of our lives, and remind us that when we work hard, we succeed.

We are making decisions that empower Canadians with better careers, lower costs, and more choices, so you can build the future you want.

We will create high-paying, union careers in Canada.

We will unlock new apprenticeships and skills training programs – whether you’re starting out or switching jobs – as well as launch a new talent strategy for the next generation of scientists and innovators to build their career in Canada.

We will leverage Canadian talent so the next generation of workers and innovators can build their careers in Canada.

We will create new industries and new markets, so you will have all the skills you need to seize these opportunities.

Canada has always been a nation of builders.

In the 1970s, we built the CN Tower. The tallest tower in the world, and a symbol of Canadian innovation.

In the 1990s, we connected Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick with the Confederation Bridge that spans 13 kilometres.

Decades before, we built the St. Lawrence Seaway in just five years. It cost Canada about $336 million to build in 1959 – that’s more than $3.5 billion today.

And that seaway has moved more than a trillion dollars’ worth of cargo since. It has created jobs for thousands of Canadians – welders, manufacturers, business owners.

When we bet big on ourselves, we realise the benefits for generations to come.

This Darlington plant will not only build clean energy technology; it will build Bowmanville, creating new high-paying careers and helping the families here get ahead.

We used to build in this country. And we’re building again.

Together, we are building Canada strong.

Thank you.