Selling Hydro One is a bad deal for Oshawa

Dear Editor,

Whether you know it or not, you are an owner of Hydro One; but if Kathleen Wynne has her way, you won’t be for long.

Hydro One takes power from dams or generating stations across Ontario and brings it to our community, where Oshawa Public Utilities Commission then delivers it to our homes and businesses. Whether you pay your bill to Oshawa PUC or Hydro One, you’re paying for Hydro One to transmit the power to our community.

For nearly 100 years, our hydro system has been in public hands where it provides both reliable power and a reliable revenue stream we use to fund our hospitals, education and infrastructure. Now, Kathleen Wynne wants to sell it off to make a quick buck and Ontarians will pay the price on their bills. That’s just a bad deal.

We’ve seen this movie before. Mike Harris and Ernie Eves began to privatize and deregulate parts of Ontario’s hydro system in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, Ontarians have seen their hydro bills skyrocket. On May 1, 2015, they went up again. Since 2003, bills have nearly quadrupled and according to data from Manitoba Hydro, Ontarians pay the highest bills in Canada. That’s not a fluke.

Nova Scotia chose to privatize its hydro system more than 20 years ago. Today, Nova Scotians pay among the highest rates in the country. Meanwhile our neighbours in Manitoba and Quebec have kept their hydro systems public and they pay the lowest rates in Canada.

I believe Ontarians will be best served by keeping Hydro One and our local hydro companies in public hands. Privatization doesn’t improve reliability. It doesn’t make the system more efficient. It doesn’t fix billing issues. If placed in private hands, bankers, brokers and consultants will want to make a profit and that means Ontarians will pay more and have less oversight and control.

I’ve heard from people in our community about what this means for them. I have heard from seniors that are worried they will not be able to keep the lights on or heat their homes. I have met with concerned friends and neighbours, business leaders, business owners and members across our community. This issue is about people and this sell-off is wrong for the people of this province and the people of Oshawa.

The Liberals will say they need to sell Hydro One so they can build things like the 407 East. It’s just not true. This plan will pay for only 3 per cent of their transit and infrastructure promises.

New Democrats have always believed in building transit and infrastructure. We know that we can make these investments without a short-sighted, one-time sell-off of our public assets. Instead of closing tax loopholes for big corporations and keeping hydro in public hands, Kathleen Wynne is making Ontario families and small businesses pay the price.

Selling Hydro One is a bad deal for Oshawa. It means people will pay more. It means local businesses will pay more. It means we will lose control of a strategic asset we rely on and trust, and once Kathleen Wynne has sold off Hydro One, it will be gone forever. I encourage you to speak out. Visit www.youpaytheprice.ca and send a message to Kathleen Wynne, tell her you want you don’t want to pay the price for privatized Hydro.

Jennifer French

MPP Oshawa