Hydro One sale will cost Ontario billions

February 12, 2018

Queen’s Park — Mike Schreiner, GPO leader, made the following statement regarding today’s report from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario:

“The Liberals have been conned into selling an asset that paid Ontario dividends each and every year,” says Mike Schreiner, Leader of the Ontario Green Party.

According to the Financial Accountability Officer of Ontario, the partial sale of Hydro One will cost the Ontario government 1.8 billion dollars in cash flow over time.

“It would have been cheaper and more responsible to be honest about paying for transit, rather than selling off a public asset,” adds Schreiner. “Instead we are facing a staggering loss of revenue. Liberal hydro policies are about short-term gain, but it is long-term pain for the people of Ontario.”

The sell-off of Hydro One was a Liberal mistake that we will all pay for in the end.

“The people of Ontario built Hydro One over decades into the wealthy transmission and distribution utility it is now, a huge public asset,” according to Schreiner.

“Hydro One used to be a foundational utility supporting the economy of Ontario–paying a dividend each year to fund public services that benefit people,” says Schreiner. “The Liberals have squandered those benefits and lost control of our electricity system.”

To compound the problem, the new privatized Hydro One bought U.S. Avista last year, which has a stake in coal: the dirtiest power generator available.

The big-three-status-quo parties continue to be dishonest about where we get our power from and how we really pay for it. The purchase of Avista last year undermines the Liberals’ stated goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

“Like the PC’s before them, the Liberals have once again put short-term political gain before good policy that works for people,” says Schreiner. “Investments in infrastructure are critical to our province, but we shouldn’t fund today’s projects with an expensive political shell game that will cost us billions more in the future.”

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