Concerns over the sale of Hydro One keep coming out as the deal moves forward. Last week Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson said we will be seeing a spike in hydro rates. Now Provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath is also saying this is a bad deal, especially for the north. She says that spike will be over-and-above what the Liberals have already admitted to, because privatization leads to higher costs. Horwath says it’s already hard to pay bills in the north because of our harsh climate.
The Financial Accountability Officer has said the sale is the wrong way to fund infrastructure, and will leave the province worse off. Horwath says infrastructure funding is important, but selling the public utility is not the way to do that. One of the ways she is proposing to come up with the funds is through a new partnership that the Prime Minister-designate, Justin Trudeau, has said he is ready to enter into with the provinces.
Horwath says is she also concerned about the lack of transparency in the deal, and about Premier Kathleen Wynne being out of the country as the deal is pushed through in two weeks.
Read the full reaction from Bisson in a previous story, Another Report Warning of the Potential Hydro One Sale.