Premier brings hydro mea culpa to Hamilton Liberals
Wynne admits her ‘mistake’ — promises more help coming for consumers
Premier Kathleen Wynne promised Hamilton Liberals more help is coming for consumers “burned” by hydro prices that spiked under her government’s power polices.
The beleaguered provincial Liberal leader acknowledged her historically-poor popularity numbers late last month during a party gathering and called rising electricity rates her “mistake.”
Wynne was introduced to 400-plus faithful at a $300-a-plate dinner Tuesday at LIUNA Station with a tonguein-cheek hydro joke that she later referenced.
She called spiking hydro bills — which the auditor general has said rose 70 per cent between 2006 and 2014 — are “unacceptable” if they’re forcing residents to choose between paying for electricity or food.
Wynne said party members should be proud of the government’s efforts to fix a “mess” of a power system inherited in 2003, arguing brownouts and smog days have been eliminated.
“But the cost of the changes has burned people. “I get that,” she said. She noted the province has recently introduced an eight per cent rebate on electricity bills, which comes into effect Jan. 1, as well as bill relief for rural and northern resi- dents.
“But it’s still not enough,” she said, later adding: “In the coming weeks and months, we’re going to find more ways to lower rates and reduce the burden on consumers.”
Wynne didn’t specify what new measures are on the horizon and didn’t grant media interviews during or following the event.
Hamilton MPP and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has issued neardaily criticisms of the Wynne government’s record on hydro.
That includes the decision to selloff portions of Hydro One to fund an ambitious infrastructure and transit-building program that includes light rail transit projects in Hamilton and Mississauga.
On Tuesday, Horwath pointed to local restaurants and a butcher who struggling with “devastating” hydro bills in the thousands of dollars.
“Devastating is not a word you just throw around. It is a sign of real trouble for small business owners who want to be able to hire local workers and support their communities,” said Horwath in a late release.
Last week, she also pointed to Hamilton’s shrinking social services fund designed to offset rent and hydro arrears for residents in danger of losing their homes.
The city has restricted access to the program pot — which is funded by provincial homelessness prevention cash — for fear the money won’t last the rest of the year.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger attended Tuesday’s fundraiser and publicly thanked Wynne’s government for the $1-billion promise to build LRT in the city.
“There is a lot of gratitude” in the city for the project, he said.
Coun. Lloyd Ferguson also attended the dinner, as did cabinet ministers Steven Del Duca and Charles Sousa. Longtime Liberal MPP and adviser to the premier Ted McMeekin was MC of the event.
Scores of skilled tradespeople also protested pending labour law changes outside LIUNA station in the lead-up to the fundraiser.
The protesters are concerned amendments contained in the omnibus budget Bill 70 will lead to unskilled, untrained labourers doing work that requires trades expertise.
The cost of the changes has burned people. I get that. KATHLEEN WYNNE ONTARIO PREMIER