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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - FEBRUARY / MARCH 2012
consumers and benef it our
communities.
Not to mention—having a great
baseload like Lower Churchill
enables us to bring other
renewables into the grid as well.
CIO: What other renewable
opportunities are out there right
now?
DD: Renewables are an
important element of our overall
energy picture. We are engaged
in one of the most important
research projects in the world—
our tidal power capacity in the
Bay of Fundy. We are putting
turbines in the water and
developing that project. Invest-
ment in this type of technology
will enable us to see the potential
of tidal energy—similar to what
Denmark is to the wind energy
world. This is not just an energy
opportunity; there is a wider
technology and economic oppor-
tunity for this part of the
country. We look at every oppor-
tunity for wind, solar, hydro cell,
Halifax Marine Research Insti-
tute. We didn’t realize the
measure of those assets before.
Especially here in Nova Scotia
— companies in various f ields
have seen that the Institute has
given them the opportunity to
leverage what they’re doing, and
the private and educational
sectors can play off of each other.
The wider business community
is seeing the value in those kinds
of research assets.
Additionally, our provinces are
quickly growing our aerospace
and defense industries. We are
home to 40 per cent of Canada’s
military assets. Defense compa-
nies see this as an important
destination for their investments.
CIO: What would you say are the
improvements in the working
relationship between the Atlantic
Provinces?
DD: We have had a willing
partnership among the Premiers
of the provinces. One of the
things I said when I was f irst
elected, and I continue to say, is
that there is a measure of
agreement between the premiers
that we have an aggregated
market of 2.3 million people in
our provinces combined—and its
much more attractive to come
into that kind of marketplace
than a divided marketplace that
is very small. We have worked
very hard to slow the regulatory
regimes and make them easier to
work with. On a continuous
basis we are working together on
energy questions—which really,
is the catalyst for a great portion
of our growth. We have to
consider the importance of New
Brunswick as well. We need a
good transmission corridor into
the New England market, and
we’re creating an energy route.
This will create a competitive
energy market that will benef it
“
The best example of
the benefits to local
communities is the
partnership with
Daewoo Shipbuilding
and Marine Engineering,
with the establishment
of DSTN Trenton.”
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES ATLANTIC CANADA