Tag Archives: HST

Green Party of Ontario: “NDP prioritizes energy companies over low-income families”

"The NDP's proposal to subsidize home heating fuel rather than supporting our most vulnerable children through full funding of the Ontario Child Benefit reflects misguided priorities," says Green Party of Ontario (GPO) leader Mike Schreiner

On April 3rd, NDP leader Andrea Horwath introduced the first of their budget proposals, taking HST off of home heating costs. “The NDP’s proposal to subsidize home heating fuel rather than supporting our most vulnerable children through full funding of the Ontario Child Benefit reflects misguided priorities,” says Green Party of Ontario (GPO) leader Mike Schreiner. “Subsidizing energy consumption increases pollution and benefits big home owners the most –generally the wealthy consume the most energy.”

“This is bad economic, social and environmental policy, driven by political expediency,” adds Schreiner. “The NDP’s proposal is a job creation strategy for Alberta oil and natural gas companies, not Ontario businesses.”

The GPO prefers to support lower-income families, social assistance recipients, and energy conservation ahead of subsidizing energy waste.
With this in mind, the GPO advocates eliminating the misleadingly-named Clean Energy Benefit, which supports the wasteful consumption of electricity, clean or dirty. Canceling it would save $975 million.
Here’s how we’d advise investing those savings, while still balancing the budget:

* $220 million for an energy rebate program targeted to lower-income families and seniors.          * $600 million for an energy-efficiency building retrofit program to help homeowners, tenants and small business save money by saving energy.          * $90 million to fund a full increase in the Ontario Child Benefit.

* $65 million to avoid freezing social assistance rates.
It’s not too late to put our financial, social and environmental future ahead of cynical politics. Environmentally and socially-concerned, fiscally-responsible voters should demand that Horwath’s NDP rethink such short-sighted budget demands. Read the GPO open letter to Premier McGuinty with our proposals for budget amendments www.gpo.ca

Jaymini Bhikha (Office) 416-977-7476 (Cell) 416-275-8573  jbhikha@gpo.ca
Sent from Green Party of Ontario PO Box 1132 Toronto, ON M4Y 2T8 Canada

Things You Find Out After An Election

Two weeks after the last ballot was cast in the election, we in Ontario learned of approvals for more electricity increases. The same day we also heard we may soon be paying the highest price for electricity in the developed world.
According to energy analyst Parker Gallant, and University of Guelph’s Glenn Fox, the McGuinty government’s wind and solar energy policies will cost about 40 per cent more than their own estimates.
Specifically, Gallant/Fox study states we could see our electricity bills rise 65 per cent by 2015 and 141 per cent by 2030. After first predicting they would hold the line at one per cent, government admitted a few months ago to increases of 46 per cent and 100 per cent!
Why the discrepancy? According to Gallant/Fox, a number of costs were omitted from the government’s green energy estimates. Excluded were costs like inflation, transmitting electricity from wind and solar facilities, the capital cost of turbines and the need for backup generation. For example, the study indicates costs for back-up generation to power up when the wind dies and the sun hides will come in at 9.6 billion instead of the predicted of $1.8 billion.
Rising costs are already taking their toll. Rates have risen by 75 per cent and we see businesses closing, industry heading south, and families struggling to pay the bills. Imagine the impact if the figures in the Gallant-Fox study are borne out. It’s hard to comprehend how businesses and family incomes will be able to afford life when their electricity bills hit the roof. How do businesses compete with those from jurisdictions where energy prices are much lower? How do families pay dramatically increasing energy bills?
The latest indication that we are seeing the Gallant-Fox predictions coming to fruition arrived last week with the post-election announcement through the Ontario Energy Board of an increase in rates. As of November 1st, residential and small business consumers will once again be paying more for their electricity use.
According to the Ontario Energy Board, peak power will cost 10.8 cents a kilowatt hour, while mid- and off-peak power will be 9.2 cents and 6.2 cents a kwh. I recall eight years ago as a government member we locked in electricity rates at 4.3 cents a kwh.

Those costs don’t include the additions of the Harmonized Sales Tax on our electricity bills – not to mention the cost of smart meters themselves. Many of those people and businesses working with smart-metered time of use pricing are unable to “shift” their energy use to “off-peak” times and are therefore hit again with higher cost.
Of course, locally, we know that we have, and continue, to pay the added price of job loss because Mr. McGuinty’s green-at-all-costs obsession. Government’s coal closure directive at Nanticoke OPG will be directly costing our area 400 jobs.
Given the concern – at times outright anger – I heard at the doors and at my office, the continued trend for further hydro increases is worrisome. The fact that we find out the bad news only days after the election raises concern over what further surprises may be in store.
As Opposition, it will be vital for members to work together to hold this government to account on the uncontrollable rise of electricity. For the Silo, Toby Barrett.