October 29th, 2015

Financial Accountability Officer Report shows Hydro One sell-off bad deal for Ontarians

This morning, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath demanded that the government stop the sell-off Hydro One after the Financial Accountability Officer’s (FAO) Report demonstrated what New Democrats have been saying for months: The sell-off of Hydro One is a bad deal for the families and businesses of this province.

“The first independent analysis of this sell-off has been done and it clearly shows that this is a bad deal for Ontario families and businesses,” said Horwath. “The Premier should follow the advice of the FAO and commit today to stopping the sell-off of Hydro One before this turns into another billion dollar Liberal boondoggle for the people of Ontario.”

The FAO report demonstrates that the Premier’s promises that the sell-off would return $4 billion for transit and infrastructure are false and that the total could be billions of dollars less. The report also clearly outlines that Ontario will be in worse long-term financial shape as it will lose between $444 and $487 million a year in foregone net revenues by 2025 as a direct result of the sell-off.

“The Premier has been telling Ontarians that the sell-off will raise $4 billion for infrastructure and transit, but the FAO report shows that the sell-off could raise as little as 1.4 billion dollars – a fraction of what she has been promising,” said Horwath. “At $4 billion this sell-off was unnecessary and a bad deal. At $1.4 billion it is ludicrous that the Premier would even consider it. It is gross incompetence if she cannot make up 0.1% of her budget without selling-off Hydro One.”

The FAO’s damning report is the first independent analysis of the Liberal sell-off of Hydro One, despite the Premier’s promises for an independent and transparent process.

“Thanks to the FAO we have a chance to stop another Liberal boondoggle before it costs Ontario families and businesses billions of dollars,” said Horwath. “The Premier must commit today to stopping the sell-off of Hydro One before it is too late.”