Two Ontario Party Leaders Heat Up Niagara With Some Campaigning On A Cold Winter Day

By Doug Draper

It’s lookin’ like the campaigns for this coming September’s provincial election are already heating up to a point where they might melt some of this snow.

Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak in Beamsville, calling on Liberal government to give Ontarians a break on hydro bills.

There were two Ontario party leaders stomping ground in the Niagara region this January 20  –  NDP leader Andrea Horwath and Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak – both on issues of particular concern to many ordinary citizens of this province during these coldest days of winter, the cost of hydro and heating our homes.

Hudak made stops in the Lincoln, Ontario town of Beamsville and in Niagara Falls, along the lower Niagara River where the province’s Sir Adam Beck power facilities are located, to point to what he called “skyrocketing hydro bills” under the current Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty.

“In January, usually it’s the credit card bill families are most afraid to open when it arrives in the mail. This year, it’s the hydro bill,” said Hudak during his Beamsville stop. “We must place the consumer’s ability to pay at the forefront of all energy sector decisions and respect that they pay the bills.”

“When you add in the impact of the HST and other rate increases,” continued Hudak, “rising hydro bills are forcing many families to make difficult decisions such as whether they can afford to keep the kids in minor hockey or figure skating, or go on family outings that help to bolster the local economy.”

Hudak, who has repeatedly floated the idea of getting rid of the HST on energy bills, called on the McGuinty government to make time-of-use pricing optional for families and announced that he will create a Consumer Advocate at the Ontario Energy Board to ensure all decisions reflect the consumer’s ability to pay.

Meanwhile, the NDP’s leader met residents in a local café in Niagara to discuss their concerns about the soaring cost of living, most particularly home heating bills that have become even harder to pay with the HST tax attached to them.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath promises to purge our hydro and home heating bills of the HST.

“In these tough times, it’s just wrong to stick a new tax on hydro and home heating bills,” Horwath said. “New Democrats are calling for a simple step to make life more affordable for Niagara families.”

”You can cut a lot from your household budget, but everyone needs to heat their home and keep the lights on,” added Horwath during one stop in Welland. “As the snow flies and temperatures drop, Niagara families are scrambling to pay their heating bills. They need immediate relief. Now’s the time to take the HST off of natural gas and home heating oil. Niagara families deserve a permanent break on their household expenses”

Horwath spoke for the campaign her party launched last September to take the HST – introduced by the McGuinty Liberals in concern with the federal Conservative government last July – off hydro bills, a break she said would save an average Niagara family with two children $220 per year.

She urged the people of Niagara to join the campaign to eliminate HST on hydro and home heating bills by visiting http://www.UnfairHST.ca . “We’re going to keep the pressure up by expanding our campaign to take the HST off home heating and hydro bills.  The people of Niagara deserve real relief,” Horwath said.

Ontario’s Liberal premier is reportedly now making the rounds in various regions of the province with messages he wants to get out to voters in this election year. When he is in this region, Niagara At Large will be sure to give him equal coverage.

(Visit Niagara At Large at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater Niagara region.)