ONTARIO—Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s reckless ‘fire sale’ of Hydro One will continue to make life harder for Ontario families, according to the Ontario Tories, citing Ontario’s Financial Accountability Officer (FAO).
“Since day one the Ontario PC’s have opposed Kathleen Wynne’s sale of Hydro One,” said Ontario Progressive Conservative Energy critic Todd Smith, in a release. “Their sale has driven up the cost of living for families, seniors and businesses. Today we have more proof that this fire sale means long-term pain for short-term Wynne Liberal gain.”
The report confirms that the sale was only about balancing the budget in an election year, with Ontarians losing $1.1 billion in 2018-2019 from the sale, claims the release. Alleging that only $670 million of the billions allocated through the Trillium Trust has been spent on infrastructure.
“The Liberals like to talk a big game on infrastructure, but the Hydro One sale was never about investing in infrastructure,” added Ontario Progressive Conservative Finance critic Lisa MacLeod. “This was about cooking the books in an election year, while Liberal donors and insiders get rich.”
“Under Kathleen Wynne’s watch, families are struggling to make ends meet while the Hydro One CEO applies for rate increases to pay for millions of dollars in raises for executives,” said Mr. Smith. “Not only that, Hydro One continues to spend billions of dollars on foreign dirty coal-burning companies while Ontario families are paying more and getting less.”
“Today’s report is just more proof that Kathleen Wynne continues to put insiders and her political self-interest before hard working Ontario families,” claimed Ms. MacLeod. “It’s time for change that works for the people, not the insiders.”
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said in a separate release, “today’s report by the FAO is a damning indictment of the privatization schemes rammed through by successive Conservative and Liberal governments. The sale of Hydro One will cost the people of Ontario nearly $300 million every year and it will result in the province paying $1.8 billion more to build Hydro One infrastructure than it would have cost if Hydro One had remained in public hands.”
