MANITOULIN ISLAND—Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha presented a Hydro One petition in the Ontario Legislature with the 1,958 signatures on it that had been presented to him by Tanya Giles, a Spring Bay resident recently.
“It’s pretty amazing that one individual to do something and was so successful. Tanya garnered over 1,900 people to sign her petition. She’s brought the issue to over 1,900 people and just think of how many of these people reached out to others from there on these issues,” said Mr. Mantha. “Through her efforts she has raised the awareness and put the message out there that people are not in agreement with the direction taken by the province concerning Hydro One and that they don’t agree with the government’s policies.”
“Petitions like this are a great way to bring these views forward,” stated Mr. Mantha. “I take my hat off to her (Ms. Giles) and all the people that signed the petition. It is a truly remarkable thing when people take matters into their own hands and make voice their concerns.”
In the provincial legislature on September 15, 2016 Mr. Mantha said. “I want to thank Mrs. Tanya Giles-one individual from Manitoulin Island for taking the time collecting all these signatures. The petition reads in part: ‘Hydro One Petition. To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Whereas the overwhelming majority of citizens from northern Ontario oppose the sale of Hydro One; whereas the majority of citizens of northern Ontario oppose the rate increase which is the direct result of successful initiative to conserve and reduce electrical power consumption; whereas the majority of citizens of northern Ontario oppose the installation and continued use of the smart meter programs due to the unreliability of their metering and billing as well as incidents of causing fire; whereas the majority of citizens from northern Ontario oppose the current inclusion of the delivery fee charges on power bills due to the unfair and confusing policies. We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows: Call upon the Liberal government to stop the sell-off and privatization of Hydro One, stop further rate increases caused by resulting from lower-than-expected consumption, stop the practice of billing rural customers for line loss charges, and reverse the ill-conceived decision to install smart meters without passing on the expense for replacing equipment to customers’.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with Tanya Giles and the 1,958 signatures that are on this petition,” said Mr. Mantha.
“I watched the presentation in the legislature and was happy with it,” said Ms. Giles. She also noted that a lawsuit that has been filed by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) over the sale of Hydro One by the province, “is a big deal. I was very pleasantly surprised by this action.”
“And I know the opposition party is going after the government,” said Ms. Giles. “The opposition party is doing what the residents of this province have asked them to do.”
“I am very disappointed with what the Premier and Energy minister Glenn Thibeault provided to address the hydro energy crisis in this province,” said Mr. Mantha. “Yes, they will be providing an eight percent rebate, but hydro has gone up 40 percent and will be going up another 13 percent before the end of the year. And they removed the 10 percent Northern credit. They govern based on the frustrations of Ontario residents.”
A CUPE release dated September 14, 2016 says Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne and Ministers of Finance and Energy now face legal troubles over the privatization of Hydro One. The Premier along with Minister Charles Sousa and Minister Glenn Thibeault have been served the mandatory 60 day notice of intent to file a suit against them for misfeasance while in public office.
“Our goal with this lawsuit is to protect the people of Ontario and Hydro One ratepayers, to stop any further sale of shares in Hydro One and keep the majority of shares in public hands,” said Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario and one of the plaintiffs in the case. “The Premier and her ministers had no political mandate to pursue the sell-off, experts made it clear the sale would be bad for Ontario and still they chose to proceed with privatization. Why?”
“Prior to the sale of shares, internal government documents showed the vast majority of Ontarians were opposed to the privatization of Hydro One. Among the expert advice warning the Premier against the sale was the province’s own financial accountability officer who stated, ‘in the years following the sale of 60 percent of Hydro One, the province’s budget balance would be worse than it would have been without the sale. The province’s net debt would initially be reduced, but will eventually be higher than it would have been without the sale’,” the CUPE release notes.
“As with all suits of this nature we are required to serve notice 60 days in advance of filing with the court,” said Darrell Brown, partner at Goldblatt Partners and one of the legal counsel working on the case. “We cannot get into the specifics of the case until it is filed, the claim will be accessible to the public when we file it in November.”
“We do not undertake this lawsuit lightly, but our government has chosen to blatantly ignore the voices of the people and we’ve been left with little choice,” said Mr. Hahn, speaking at a press conference at Queen’s Park. “Further sales of Hydro One shares must be stopped before the people of Ontario lost majority control over our electricity system. We anticipate others may want to sign on to the suite before we file in November.”
