The PC's have an Energy Plan???

I just want to start off by saying that this is not a posting that supports the Provincial Liberals in anyway. Ok, now that I got that off my chest here I go.

For the past several months our local MPP, Jim Wilson has been going around the Province attacking the Liberals on our rising energy costs, and now PC leader Tim Hudak has come out saying that he will remove the HST on our monthly hydro bills, when in fact he can't remove the HST, but can only remove the Provincial portion which is 8%. He also claims that he will get rid of the "Debt Retirement Charge that appears on our monthly Hydro bill. So let's take a look at the HST (Provincial portion) for a second. Right now the Liberals take off 10% of our total energy bill. Yes that's 10% from the bottom line. For example if your total bill is $ 100.00 including all taxes and debr retirement charges, you would receive $ 10.00 off so your bill would be $ 90.00. Last time I checked 10% is greater than 8%. So will Hudak get rid of the 10% discount in favour of the 8%? if so that's a 2% increase in our monthly hydro bill.

Now over to the debt retirement charge:

Remember the $19 billion financial footnote that was orphaned by former premier Mike Harris when he dismembered Ontario Hydro and couldn’t make the debt disappear? In a political sleight of hand, the PCs took it off the books in 1999: stranded it, then stood by as it grew from $19.4 billion to $20.6 billion in 2003-04 when they lost power. The incoming Liberals stopped the slide and have since reduced it to $14.8 billion, according to the auditor general’s latest report.

The auditor general got that one right. Hudak, however, claims the arm’s-length auditor has it wrong. Displeased by his non-partisan verdict, the Tories served notice last week that they’ll hire “independent forensic auditors” to re-examine the stranded debt monster. That’s an impressive feat of financial engineering: Strand the debt again, strangle the auditor general, stretch the truth.



So who was the Minister of Energy under the Harris Government when Harris dismembered Ontario Hydro? It was the guy in the picture above, Simcoe Grey MPP, Jim Wilson. The same Jim Wilson who as Minister of Health closed hospitals, fired nurses, and forced doctors to leave Ontario to work in the United States. Mr. Wilson has been the spokesperson going around the Province claiming that the Debt Retirement Charge is a Money Mystery. Well he got the money mystery part correct as it was his government who hid the debt and took it off the books in 1999. The Liberals keeping one of their few campaign promises, said during the 2003 election that if elected they will bring in the Auditor General to perform a full audit of each Ministery, and Bingo they found the mystery debt which was about 19 billion plus. So hence the Debt Retirement Charge started to appear on our energy bills.

With the Green Party of Ontario releasing their full platform on May 25th on the steps of Queens Park in the morning and at a party in Collingwoos at the Huron Club starting at 7pm, they are the first political party to release their platform.

Until next time!