As if nuclear power wasn’t expensive enough, $1.2-million of Ontario tax dollars have gone into marketing it and other forms of generation.

[Ontario Power Generation] has dramatically stepped up the advertising that promotes various electricity sources. In 2004, it spent only $25,000, almost entirely for its nuclear program. This year, up to May 16, the total had already reached $661,000, with $261,000 earmarked for promoting nuclear power, $250,000 for hydroelectric power and $150,000 for coal.

How much did the OPG spend on promoting conservation, the cheapest and most realistic answer to our energy crisis? Around $150K — eight times less than the amount spent promoting the other sources.

In May 2005, Dwight Duncan, Ontario’s Minister of Energy, called for an “open and public debate” on nuclear power. It’s bad enough that the government is now planning to spend a minimum of $40,000,000,000.00 on new nuclear power having had absolutely no public debate of any kind, they don’t need to also use my tax dollars to try and convince me it’s a good idea.

In related news, the federal government recently used some of our money on focus groups to find out what people think of the Ministry of Public Safety’s website. The focus group told them they didn’t like the emphasis placed on Stockwell Day’s photo while using the word “propaganda” a few times. The photo is now gone from the front page.