Today Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, sent the following open letter to NDP leader Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath
Leader, New Democratic Party of Ontario
Room 115, Main Legislative Building, Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A5
ahorwath-co@ndp.on.ca
June 1, 2015
Dear Andrea Horwath:
Privatizing Hydro One, as the Liberals plan to do, is wrong. The Green Party of Ontario shares your concerns with this plan. We also support your bill calling for a referendum on the privatization of Hydro One.
Selling off Hydro One is a poor choice–a bad decision from a desperate government looking for money to fund transportation infrastructure. This fire sale of an important public asset trades our future wealth for a short-term shot of cash.
There is a better way to fund transportation. And I’m asking you to take a bold step to offer the Liberals a compromise. If you want to stop the sell off of Hydro One—and I sincerely believe you do—then I ask you to reach out to the Premier with an offer to support revenue tools to fund transportation if the Liberals take privatizing Hydro One off the table.
I know politics is about offering voters different choices. But in the last election all parties said they supported funding for transit. Not all parties were honest about how to pay for it.
Sadly, the Premier has rejected every other source of revenue to fund transit. This includes ignoring recommendations from her own expert panels.
To be fair, so has the NDP.
This is your chance to show people that the NDP will put good public policy before partisan political games.
No new tax will be popular. In today’s hyper partisan political culture, no party wants to take on the burden of raising taxes. Yet, we must find revenue to pay for the transportation infrastructure we desperately need.
I am asking you to share the burden of leadership on this issue with the Liberals, even though their majority government does not require you to do so.
I understand why the NDP would rather score partisan political points than offer the Liberals a compromise. I am asking you to take a risk—a risk that voters will reward you more for,
for changing the political game, rather than playing it to your advantage.
More importantly, I am asking you to do the right thing for the people of Ontario.
I’m writing the Premier and the leader of the official opposition with a similar request. With good will, I know we can find a multi-party compromise on ways to fund transportation that do not include privatizing Hydro One.
I appreciate your efforts to maintain Hydro One as a public asset that benefits the people of Ontario today and in the future. And I appreciate your time and consideration. The Green Party is eager to work with others to fund transportation infrastructure while retaining a valuable public asset such as Hydro One.
Sincerely,
Mike Schreiner
Leader
Green Party of Ontario