{"id":1033,"date":"2017-02-28T08:09:02","date_gmt":"2017-02-28T13:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=1033"},"modified":"2020-08-24T13:34:31","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T17:34:31","slug":"news-from-the-park-february-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/28\/news-from-the-park-february-28\/","title":{"rendered":"News from the Park – February 28"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb 28, 2017 @ 08:09<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week, the Ontario Legislature once again resumed sitting after the winter break.\u00a0 During the recess I spent a great deal of time travelling from end to end, throughout the riding, meeting with many individuals and organizations on matters of importance to the people of Algoma-Manitoulin. As much as I enjoyed my time back home, my colleagues and I have been truly eager to get back to business in Queen\u2019s Park as there have been so many events and issues that need to be brought to the attention of the government.<\/p>\n

It will not come as a surprise that the hottest issue continues to be the privatization and affordability of hydro for Ontarians.\u00a0 Each week my office receives desperate calls asking for some sort of assistance or relief from homeowners and business operators who are struggling to make ends meet because of out of control electrical bills. Unfortunately for some, making ends meet is just out of the question.\u00a0 Between housing costs, hydro and heat, and putting food on the table for their families, some Ontarians just can\u2019t make it.\u00a0 On the news the other day I saw a senior with a sign on his home saying the gentleman was forced to sell his vehicle so he could make some sort of payment on his hydro bill and his rent. Such decisions should not have to be made by our seniors.<\/p>\n

I am sure that in the last few weeks you have heard lots of talk from the Liberals about their urgent desire to end winter hydro disconnections. This is an especially horrific experience for many northerners living in rural areas where they not only lose heat but their water supply as well. Once again, however, rather than making genuine attempts to look to the needs of the people of Ontario, Premier Wynne chose to continue with political gamesmanship.\u00a0 Their plan was to throw the hydro disconnection legislation into a huge mixed bag of unrelated legislation to force all parties to support, just to sneak them through with the urgent hydro issue.\u00a0 The hydro crisis in itself is important enough that it warranted being brought forward for proper debate as a bill unto itself.\u00a0 On Wednesday the NDP motion to prohibit hydro disconnection to homes in winter was defeated by the Liberals, only to be resurrected a day later by the Liberals in a similar move.<\/p>\n

It is important for people to understand where the responsibility for our hydro woes lies.\u00a0 The main cause of our hydro issues rests at the feet of the Premier herself.\u00a0 She has admitted as much. We all know that our hydro rates are too high to be afforded.\u00a0 They are the highest rates in Canada.\u00a0 This week the premier stood in the Legislature and blamed the woes on the fact that the Liberals inherited a degraded system from the last Conservative Government.\u00a0 Yet, it is the decisions and actions of this Liberal government that have led us to where we sit now.\u00a0 The premier says the rates are not acceptable, yet, by signing off when the Liberals decided to close the gas plants for their own political gain, she gave those rates her approval.\u00a0 When she chose to privatize hydro one she again gave her approval to rising rates.\u00a0 If the Liberals truly believed the hydro rates are so unacceptable now, why have they watched the rates skyrocket over the last 14 years by 180% while they\u2019ve been in power?\u00a0 In 2016 over 60,000 homes had their electrical service disconnected.\u00a0 Now all of a sudden they think the rates have gone out of control?\u00a0 Haven\u2019t any of them paid a hydro bill lately?<\/p>\n

To be clear, New Democrats are the only party who has consistently stood against privatization and the sell-off of our public assets.\u00a0 The other two parties have flipped flopped on the issue. The Liberals used to say that selling-off assets is wrong-headed. Now they are doing just that.\u00a0 And let\u2019s face it; the Conservatives are all about privatization. Whether it be privatizing a public highway, selling off our health care assets or Hydro One.<\/p>\n

In this session my NDP colleagues and I will continue to strive to show leadership in these areas; not lead you down the garden path where the other two parties would have you follow them.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>\n\"\"Michael Mantha is MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin.\u00a0He is currently the NDP Critic for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation and NDP Critic for\u00a0Northern Development and Mines.\u00a0Michael Mantha is currently serving his second consecutive term as MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin. Constituents can reach his constituency office by email at mmantha-co@ndp.on.ca<\/a>\u00a0or by phone at 705-461-9710 or Toll free 1-800-831-1899.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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