May 19th, 2017

Horwath, Krmpotich urge Sault residents to have their say on Wynne hydro scheme

NDP critical of Conservatives support for hydro privatization

Today Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and NDP byelection candidate Joe Krmpotich urged the people of Sault Ste. Marie to have their voices heard on the Wynne Liberals' hydro borrowing scheme, which Ontario now knows will cause hydro bills to soar. 

Premier Kathleen Wynne is poised to use her majority to force her bill through the legislature in just a week, allowing only very limited time for Ontarians to push back. 

'Kathleen Wynne is about to enact a plan that will cause hydro bills to soar for decades,' said Horwath. 'The Liberals have allowed the public a mere 18 hours to provide feedback on a deal that they expect us all to spend 30 years paying back, it's simply unacceptable.'
Leaked documents from Wynne's cabinet showed that the Liberal government's plan to borrow billions of dollars will cause electricity bills to shoot up sharply after the next general election, as ratepayers will be forced to pay back billions, plus interest. Horwath said Wynne is still not getting it, Sault residents should speak out now against higher bills. 
Krmpotich and Horwath also strongly disagreed with the Conservative party's position on hydro after their local byelection candidate supported a privatized Hydro One at a recent debate.
'Clearly the Conservatives have an agenda to privatize and cut the services we depend on,' said Krmpotich. 'Bringing Hydro One back into public hands will put $7 billion back into public coffers while we're getting hydro bills down, and keeping them down. That's money that we can invest in hospitals, schools, or our roads and bridges. Supporting privatization just to keep rich investors happy -- at the expense of the rest of us -- is not on.'
 

The NDP's hydro plan will reduce rates for Ontarians by about 30 per cent. It will end unfair rural and northern delivery charges and eliminate time-of-use fees that punish families for cooking dinner at dinner time.  The party is urging Sault residents to contact Christopher Tyrell, Clerk of the Standing Committee on Justice Policy to sign up to have their voices heard at 416.325.3883 (collect calls accepted) or ctyrell@ola.org. 
'We can't let Kathleen Wynne do any more damage to people's cost of living, and we can't take a chance on the Conservatives when they agree with Wynne's privatization agenda,' said Krmpotich. 'The people of this community are at a tipping point, they can't afford any more hydro rate hikes, and that's what's going to happen under the other two parties.'