Winter hydro cutoffs are now illegal
Ontario electricity distribution companies will no longer be allowed to disconnect customers’ power in the winter, after the Ontario legislature rushed through a bill Wednesday.
The Liberal government had said Tuesday that it would give the local utilities until midnight to voluntarily stop the practice or it would introduce legislation in the morning. Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault said nearly all of the approximately 70 companies had complied, but a handful said they would still have to run the policy by their boards.
“I’m hoping to have all of this done by the end of this week,” said Thibeault.
“This is something the legislature has spoken on. All parties were in agreement with unanimous consent on this so I’d like to see the (Ontario Energy Board) act on this as quickly as possible.”
All three parties quickly passed the legislation through first, second and third readings Wednesday and the legislature was to seek royal assent the same day.
But both opposition parties pointed out that the government could have ended winter disconnections much sooner.
One section of the omnibus Burden Reduction Act — introduced in September and still before the legislature — deals with winter disconnections. The opposition parties balked at government suggestions that they could help speed up the passage of the omnibus bill, saying they needed to give a large bill spanning 17 ministries and acts careful consideration. Instead, they have been calling on the government to break that section out so it could pass more quickly as a separate piece of legislation. The government refused and denied opposition attempts Tuesday to quickly pass legislation similar to what was passed Wednesday.
The majority government could have dealt with the issue much sooner, said Progressive Conservative critic Todd Smith.
“It almost seems like they were playing political games with this legislation,” he said.
NDP leader Andrea Horwath said she doesn’t know what difference 24 hours made.
“The bottom line is people in this province should not be in the situation they’re in when it comes to the high hydro bills that they can’t afford,” Horwarth said.
“When people get cut off in the winter it has serious consequences here in a province like Ontario.”