SPRING BAY—A Spring Bay woman has told the provincial Standing Committee on Justice and Policy that Ontario residents do not have any faith in Bill 132-the Fair Hydro Plan and that the bill should be taken off the table.
“From our vantage point, I can share that the people have no faith in this plan,” stated Tanya Giles. “Moreover it is appalling that once again the Liberals with their majority government are going to abuse that power, and push this bill through. That in and of itself is not lost on the voting public.”
“We are asking with all due respect that this bill be taken off the table and that all parties be given the opportunity to review and build on this document. The issues are far too important,” Ms. Giles told the committee.
“One of the things I said when I was here is if MPPs, especially Liberal MPPs were voting for their party’s stance on this issue and not voting for the people that elected them; they are there for the wrong reasons,” Ms. Giles told the Recorder.
“Thank you for the opportunity to make my presentation on Bill 132, the Fair Hydro Plan,” Ms. Giles told members of the committee in her presentation last week. “My name is Tanya Giles. I am a wife, mother, a ratepayer and a senior administrator of the Facebook page ‘Take Back Your Power Ontario.’ We have a very active page that is currently building a Coalition of Hydro Facebook pages across the province that collectively have a reach of over 1.5 million people a week. That said, I know what I share with you today, is reflective of millions of Ontarians across the province.”
Ontario is a province in crisis, said Ms. Giles. “The last 14 years of Liberal government has brought us the Clean Energy Act costing us billions in green energy contracts, smart metres that do not work, a faulty accounting system, and multi-million dollar salaries for Hydro One executives, while families are pinching pennies to pay their hydro bills.”
“However, the most disturbing of all was the sale of Hydro One, a Crown Corporation strategically designed to take profits and re-invest into our schools, hospitals and roads. The Ontario Liberals behind the backs of the PCs and the NDP put a plan in place and rushed that mandate through. And even though 83 percent of Ontarians are against the sale of our crown corporation, the sale of shares continued,” said Ms. Giles.
“What deeply concerns me, and millions of Ontarians is the way Bill 132 is being rushed through the legislature,” continued Ms. Giles. “History has clearly demonstrated that Liberal energy file mandates that become legislation have not ended well for Ontarians.”
“The role of the official opposition and the third party is to evaluate the legislation put forward to act on behalf of the people, to review and make suggestions. When they have no material to advise on, and when leaked documents provide pause as to long term costs with the Liberals admitting they have yet to evaluate those numbers, the question becomes, why the rush?”
Ms. Giles told the committee, “the Liberals have put forward a plan that Ontarians don’t know much about. We believe your carrots of the promise of discounts on our bills over the short term come at a very high price, the future of our province. The leaked documents served to prove to us that the Liberals either know that hydro costs will skyrocket, and this temporary reprieve is an election tactic, or they are grossly incompetent in their planning. We have heard the excuses as to the document in question not being reliable, but when asked for specific information, the opposition and third party are attacked and the Liberals take an offensive position, instead of engaging in collaborative dialogue.”
“How can we, as Ontarians, put our faith in a bill when the information put forward is wrapped up in rhetoric and political propaganda? We feel the Liberals are underestimating the intelligence of Ontarians. We are not interested in vanity ads. We need to see the plan’s analysis and tangible evidence. We need to see a plan that breaks down the costs, both in the long and short-term.’’
“By and large the people of this province believe that it is not the responsibility of the NPD or the PC’s to come up with a plan to fix our energy crisis. That job lays squarely at the feet of the party who put us in this mess. The time for finger pointing and historical rhetoric is over,” said Ms. Giles.
“The leaked documents holds some validity in that it has proven that the Liberals do not know the long-term ramifications and the numbers are not valid,” she said.
“I travelled six hours today to speak to you for five minutes,” said ms. Giles. “I fear for my community of Manitoulin Island where we have a system that needs upgrades and suffers from frequent outages, where delivery fees that are unmanageable and we see no benefit from those costs. Where families are up for disconnection and businesses are closing their doors…the Clean Energy Act has failed us.”
“I implore a realistic approach be taken in tackling the root problems we are facing with the energy sector in Ontario. The fair hydro plan is not a solution and everyone knows this.”
“In closing, I hope I have made clear that myself and the millions of people our Facebook Page Coalition reaches are not in favour of the Fair Hydro Plan—we do not see it as a solution to the problem.
It is a bill we cannot afford.”
