News from Ontario’s NDP Leader
Niagara Falls, August 17th, 2015 – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath delivered an address to the annual Association of Municipalities Ontario conference in Niagara Falls on Monday.
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath
“We must be focused on finding solutions that work for communities in Ontario,” said Horwath. “We are stronger when the province and municipalities work together. It is how we built this province.”
Horwath reiterated the Ontario NDP’s commitment to infrastructure investment – including for the Ring of Fire – and said that the (provincial) Liberal (government) plan to sell off Hydro One is the wrong way to address those needed revenues.
“Owning our hydro and investing in infrastructure has never been an either-or choice,” said Horwath. “The best decisions are based on the facts, not on ideology and not on catering to a small group of powerful friends and insiders. By those measures, the scheme to sell-off and privatize Hydro One – to trade long-term stable revenues for a one-time cheque – is a bad decision.”
More than one hundred municipalities have either passed or put forward resolutions calling on the Liberal government to reverse the plan to sell-off Hydro One. The Liberal government’s own polling shows that three out of four Ontarians want Hydro One to stay in public hands.
“This isn’t a partisan issue. Hydro rates have tripled under this Liberal government. Commercial and industrial electricity rates have increased by 16% in the past two years alone,” said Horwath. “Families, businesses and industry can’t afford to bite the bullet of rising hydro costs. The sale of Hydro One means we’ll lose control over our rates.”
Horwath noted that the challenges that municipalities face – challenges like creating and retaining middleclass jobs, traffic congestion, homelessness and affordable housing – don’t stop at their city limits. This is why an organization like AMO is so important.
“Across our big cities and small towns, our regions and counties, municipalities count on every order of government to work with you,” said Horwath. “I’m proud that Federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is committed to ensuring that our municipalities get the federal support they deserve.”
“I look forward to working with municipalities – to strengthen the sustainability of our communities, to protect our public assets and services, and to put the focus on the families of this province,” said Horwath.
“Because Ontario grows when the middle class grows, and Ontario is stronger when our local communities are stronger.”
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Sure, sell everything off and the public has no assets left. Let’s sell the house and live in a cardboard box. Then we can complain about being wet and cold and wonder how we let it happen.
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