The M&E Dispatch // 103

What if Canada built power beyond scarcity?

Author

Lee Tengum
September 05, 2025

Hello Everyone,

Sitting here in the GTA, between two nuclear power plants, I can’t help but wonder: Hydro and nuclear, why not both? Out west, hydro reigns supreme, but nuclear is often treated as a rival instead of a partner. Why is it seen as competition, rather than a complementary force that could strengthen the grid?

Ontario has been running on nuclear power for more than half a century. From Pickering’s first units in the 1970s, through the rise of Bruce and Darlington, the province has quietly built a system where more than half the electricity today comes from reactors. It’s not flashy, but it’s steady, baseload power that’s kept the lights on through booms, busts, and the occasional political mood swing.

Now, Ontario is pushing further, breaking ground on the first new small modular reactors (SMRs) at Darlington. Each unit is expected to power 300,000 homes, a reminder that nuclear isn’t some distant dream, it’s a backbone technology we’ve been relying on for decades.

Meanwhile, out west the pitch has been different. Canal Flats drew in a Bitcoin mine on the promise of geographic stability, low seismic risk, and abundant hydro. That stability is real. The water is real. But unlike Ontario, the West has leaned almost entirely on hydro to carry its load.

Which raises the question: if Ontario has shown the value of marrying geography to nuclear, why shouldn’t the West consider the same? Hydro is clean, but has significant environmental impact in land flooding. Nuclear is clean, but capital-intensive. Together, they can be complementary, a belt-and-suspenders approach to energy sovereignty.

So the bigger thought isn’t whether hydro or nuclear is “better.” It’s whether we’re willing to think bigger: to make power so abundant that industries, from data centers to heavy manufacturing, choose Canada not just for stability, but for sheer, overwhelming capacity.

Hydro is great. Nuclear is great. But maybe the future lies in a West that finally embraces both.

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// The Dirt

🔥 Top 3 Headlines to Watch

  1. ⛏ Osisko Metals Intersects 1,117.5m @ 0.25% Cu at Gaspé , longest continuous intercept yet at Copper Mountain, advancing Quebec’s biggest undeveloped copper system.
    https://osiskometals.com/news-2025/osisko-intersects-1117-5-metres-averaging-0-25-cu-at-gaspe

    curated_content

  2. 🔋 FPX Nickel Pilot Produces Bulk Awaruite Concentrate , new large-scale testwork confirms Baptiste material can flow through existing nickel refineries, strengthening EV supply chain credibility.
    https://fpxnickel.com/news/fpx-nickel-completes-additional-large-scale-mineral-processing-pilot-testwork-to-produce-awaruite-concentrate-to-support-discussions-with-prospective-ev-battery-supply-chain-partners

    curated_content

  3. 🪙 Red Pine Drills 9.03 g/t Au over 14m , strong open-pit potential at Wawa, Ontario continues to build momentum.
    https://redpineexp.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Red-Pine-Drilling-Results-Sept-4-2025-Final.pdf

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🛠 Exploration & Development Highlights

💰 Financings & Market Moves

🧬 Corporate & Policy

🌄 On the Horizon

  • Quebec Lithium & Nickel Momentum , Brunswick drills at Anatacau Main and FPX advances Baptiste nickel concentrate, reinforcing Quebec’s central role in the EV supply chain.

  • Northern Supply Chains in Motion , Honey Badger in Nunavut, Northern Shield in Newfoundland, and Osisko in Gaspé all highlight the depth of Canada’s east-to-north exploration story.

  • Government as Catalyst , Ottawa’s Major Projects Office and direct support for Northern Graphite show Canada increasingly positioning itself as a fast-track hub for critical minerals.

First game of the season this weekend! Kids are pumped, should be a great game.

With the leaves starting to change out here in Ontario and back into the rink for their first game it seems like Summer is drawing to an end out here. Yet I hear from friends and family that BC is just starting to roll into summer with temps in the high 30s and even cracking 40!

Enjoy the weekend everyone. Viva la Summer!

- Lee