The Empire Club of Canada
Hybrid
Thursday, November 5, 2026
Never in our modern history has there been a more compelling moment for governments to lead with ambition and action – in short, to do the big things that will reorient our country’s economy and sovereignty for the next century.
Ontario is seizing the moment with an aggressive forward-looking plan to unlock and unleash our full resource potential. From building mines and transmission lines faster, to leading North America’s largest nuclear buildout, and a made-in-Canada sovereign pipeline, these are generational investments that will pay dividends for future generations.
This fall, Ontario will unveil an action plan to aggressively accelerate permit reform for mines and energy projects in addition to a strategy to build, mine, manufacture, and refine more here at home.
On November 5th, at the Empire Club of Canada, The Honourable Stephen Lecce, Minister of Energy and Mines will lay out Ontario’s vision to move with unrelenting speed, to build out our resource prosperity for future generations, and leverage Canadian technology, workers, supply chains, and ingenuity.
Ontario has a plan and an opportunity to turn its energy resources and industrial strength into a durable Canadian advantage – and help define Canada’s place in the world’s economy for the next century.
Stephen Lecce serves as Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Mines, with a mandate focused on expanding clean, reliable and affordable energy and accelerating responsible development of Ontario’s critical minerals.
In his mission to position Ontario as an energy superpower, Stephen is expanding electricity generation—anchored by nuclear power—along with transmission and storage. To deliver on this urgent imperative, he is advancing Ontario’s leadership in nuclear energy, including the first grid-scale small modular reactor (SMR) in the G7 and plans to build what could become the largest nuclear generating station in the world.
With his mandate, he is working to aggressively unlock one of the largest untapped deposits of critical minerals and rare earth metals on the planet—vital to Canada’s future prosperity and security. This includes accelerating permitting to get shovels in the ground, while working to diversify export markets—from minerals to nuclear energy.
Stephen’s first experience in politics began in his hometown of Vaughan where he was involved in the 1999 election of the late MPP Al Palladini. Since then, he has served as Chief Spokesperson to Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper. Upon his election in 2018, he served as Deputy Government House Leader, the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Infrastructure, Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier, and then served as Ontario’s longest-serving Minister of Education in modern history.
