Wynne’s hydro hike hurts Ontarians

Ontario NDP Energy Critic Peter Tabuns issued the following statement.

“For months New Democrats have been calling on Premier Kathleen Wynne to stop a proposed 20 per cent rate hike on hydro delivery charges. For months, the Liberals have refused to listen to the concerns of Ontarians who’ve said they can’t take another increase to their hydro bills.

Kathleen Wynne can try to pass the buck, but the reason hydro prices are so unaffordable in our province is because her Liberal government, and previous Conservative governments, sold off, and privatized more and more of our electricity system.

Kathleen Wynne has made a bad situation worse by giving up majority control over Hydro One to private shareholders. She’s shown that she’s unwilling to stop the utility from jacking up hydro rates for Ontarians even as their CEO gets a 500 per cent pay raise. 

The Conservative Leader is no better. His party has a horrible track record of trying to privatize Hydro One and OPG. Patrick Brown won’t say what his plans are for hydro now, and I don’t blame Ontarians for worrying about that. Conservatives cut and privatize. 

New Democrats are the only party that believes our hydro system must serve the public interest. That’s why we put forward a plan that will fix our broken electricity system, bring down bills by up to 30 per cent for Ontarians, and put Hydro One back into public hands where it belongs.”